Tour de France stage three: Tim Merlier victorious on crash-marred day as green jersey Philipsen abandons

New York Times

5 days ago

A three-week Grand Tour will always contain natural ebbs and flows, and, for much of Monday's stage between Valenciennes and Dunkirk, it looked as if the peloton had declared an unofficial rest day, with the riders happy to cruise back towards the coast after a weekend of wind, rain and intensity.
But everything changed with just under 60 kilometres remaining. As the race's fastmen readied themselves for the intermediate sprint there was a hugely consequential crash, with Jasper Philipsen — clad in the green jersey — sent into the ground, and out of the race.
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And the incidents did not end there. As the race reached a closing five kilometres that many had been concerned about when the route was revealed, first a group of riders including Remco Evenepoel went down, and then, on a bend with less than 500 metres to go, Emilien Jeanniere was sent into the barriers in a nasty-looking crash involving several riders.
Amid the mayhem, Quickstep's European champion Tim Merlier pipped Jonathan Milan to the stage win by millimetres. The 'relaxed' stage ended up being anything but.
Jacob Whitehead and Chris Waugh look back at the key moments from Monday's stage.
Find all of The Athletic's Tour de France coverage here: nytimes.com/athletic/tag/cycling
The word 'chaos' has been used too frequently during this tour and we are only three stages in.
Across four hours and 15 minutes of racing, barely anything happened. Unfortunately, when the action did liven up, it resulted in crashes. And lots of them.
If the general classification riders were relieved to pass through the extended 5km-to-go safety zone, then any comfort they felt quickly dissipated.
With around 3.1km left, the peloton narrowed and on the right-hand side of the road, as riders attempted to cut inside the curb, three hit the ground. Primoz Roglic somehow avoided it, but Remco Evenepoel, one of the race favorites, did fall, as did Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's Jordi Meeus and 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas.
With the peloton now split, a select group continued towards the line and, as the final right-hand corner swung round with 350m to go, several riders collided with one another at high speed. Team TotalEnergies' Emilien Jeanniere came out by far the worst, catapulted across the road and into the barriers on the left-hand side. Somehow he managed to get back on his bike and crossed the line, eight minutes and 45 seconds after the stage winner.
▶️ Relive an hectic last km that brings @MerlierTim to victory on stage 3.
▶️ Revivez un dernier km chaotique qui mène @MerlierTim à la victoire sur l'étape 3.#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/DYNDucuaEU
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2025
That winner was Merlier, who claimed a photo-finish victory by a matter of millimetres ahead of Milan. The latter's Lidl-Trek train dissipated during the final kilometre, with Team Picnic PostNL overtaking them, leaving the tall Italian to freewheel up the field.
Milan appeared to do that successfully and launched his sprint early, only for Merlier to surpass him. A counter punch brought Milan level, but at the last Merlier threw his bike marginally ahead of the Italian and sheepishly lifted his arm into the air in celebration, only to pull it back down as he sought clarification that he had won.
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'It was a really hard battle,' Merlier told broadcasters afterwards. 'It was difficult to be in position and in the last two kilometres I fought back from behind. All the time I was in the wind and a headwind is really difficult. I managed to get in the slipsteam and I know next to Milan it is always difficult to beat him. At first I was sure (I won) and I put my hand in the air, but then I wasn't so sure anymore.'
🗣️'[Jonathan] Milan is always difficult to beat, but I'm happy I can take my second win here in the #TDF2025.'
🇧🇪 @MerlierTim breaks down how the stage was won ⤵️
🗣️« [Jonathan] Milan est toujours difficile à battre, mais je suis heureux de pouvoir remporter ma deuxième… pic.twitter.com/3pLZN6nZ8g
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2025
The European champion soon discovered that he had indeed won his second Tour stage, four years after his first. A consolation for Milan was that he has assumed ownership of the green jersey, having risen to 81 points, four ahead of Biniam Girmay.
With the next pure sprint opportunity unlikely to come until stage eight on Saturday, Merlier and Milan will be satisfied with their respective prizes.
Chris Waugh
The final serious bend on the run-in to Dunkirk came with 1.7km to go, but the tiny chicane with 350m remaining created the real chaos.
Then, to take the fastest route to the line on the final bend, riders had to move laterally across sprint lanes — a major safety no-no. Here, they were forced to by a route design which appeared to contravene UCI regulations.
The Athletic have approached ASO for comment.
In a month where myriad niche rules aimed to improve safety have been controversially introduced — such as minimum handlebar and chainring sizes — it is striking that more serious issues appear to have been set to one side.
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'We're messing around on the fringes rather than tackling a big core problem,' Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's head of engineering Dan Bigham had previously told The Athletic.
Intermarché-Wanty had two riders down on the day's stage, and their directeur sportif Aike Visbeek was critical of the finish design. Was it safe?
'No,' the Dutchman replied. 'And on the back of an easy stage, this is what you can expect. This is one of the last three chances you have for the sprinters, so then everybody goes blind and it's dangerous.
'The ball is in the UCI's court. It's more dangerous like that — this is how it is.'
Jacob Whitehead
It had been the perfect start to the 2025 Tour de France for Alpecin-Deceuninck. After back-to-back victories and with their two main riders in the yellow and green jerseys, they were looking to become the first team to win the opening three stages since 1961.
But after two days of consistently positive headlines, the Belgian squad came crashing back down to earth. Unfortunately, quite literally in Philipsen's case.
For almost 120km, barely anything of note had happened. That ensured that the fastmen were all prepared and ready for the intermediate sprint in Isbergues.
Bunched together, with Jonathan Milan looking to break clear of the group towards the intermediate-sprint line, Cofidis' Bryan Coquard was caught behind him and changed his line, moving slightly to his right. There, Intermarche-Wanty's Laurenz Rex stopped pedalling, leaned in slightly to his left, there was a coming together of — presumably — their handlebars, which ricocheted Coquard back to his left… and right into Philipsen path.
While Coquard's balance was miraculously restored by the collision and he escaped with merely a tire burn to his left calf, Philipsen was flung over the right-hand side of his handlebar, shredding the back of his jersey and causing the Belgian to immediately grip his shoulder in pain.
It was soon obvious that Philipsen, the maillot vert and previous wearer of the maillot jaune as winner of the opening stage, would be unable to continue. This was his third abandonment out of eight Grand Tour starts and denies Philipsen the opportunity to win the points classification for the second time at the Tour, having previously done so in 2023. He also becomes the first jersey-wearer to abandon the Tour since former green jersey-wearer Marcel Kittel in 2017.
On the opening stage, there were suggestions that Philipsen had actually attempted to push Coquard in the run-up to that intermediate sprint, but this latest incident appeared far more innocuous, if much more consequential.
😟 @JasperPhilipsen crashed hard as he approached the intermediate sprint. The green jersey was forced to retire ❌
😟 @JasperPhilipsen a chuté violemment à l'approche du sprint intermédiaire. Le maillot vert est durement touché et doit abandonner ❌#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/RdKBQgr8oK
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2025
Nonetheless, Coquard apologized after the stage, saying: 'Tough day, yes, you can imagine that causing Philipsen to abandon doesn't feel good. It wasn't my intention to cause a crash, I didn't want to take any risks. It wasn't deliberate, but I want to apologize to Philipsen and Alpecin.'
After a dream opening weekend, Alpecin must now reassess their plans for the remainder of the Tour. Philipsen departing is a huge blow not only for the team, but also for the entire race.
Chris Waugh
The last 30 kilometres of Sunday's stage two brought thrilling racing. The first 100km of Monday's stage three? Not so much. It was flat in gradient, speed and mood.
There were no attacks, with the peloton ambling its way through the northern French countryside as one long snake, while the average speed for the first hour was just 36kph —slower than a casual cafe ride to the professional peloton.
Why? One reason was the breakaway's slim chances of success — as one of only a handful of opportunities for the sprinters all race, each of their teams would be highly motivated to chase down any break. Alpecin-Deceuninck, going their third successive stage win until Philipsen crashed, had the peloton controlled with a long string of riders.
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Throw in the pancake gradient of the stage, plus the likelihood of headwinds during the run-in to Dunkirk, and the chances of any breakaway rider staying away were infinitesimally small. Nevertheless, the lack of one is still unusual — historically, smaller teams have encouraged a rider to attack so they can expose their sponsorship to the TV cameras, although that tradition is slowly fading from the sport.
But amidst a tough opening week of the Tour — Sunday's bumpy stage two was the longest day of the race — this was a day that every team was content to take easy for as long as they could.
Jacob Whitehead
It really was the most alluring that insurance has ever been. After 28 years, AG2R-La Mondiale will no longer be in control of one of French cycling's most iconic teams, as the squad announced on Monday morning 'with profound emotion' that the team's ownership would be transferred to current co-sponsor Decathlon.
The French sports retailer has set the goal of winning the Tour de France by 2030, and are seeking a new partner to increase the team's budget above €40million. Though those claims might sound grandiose, they do have possess a potential super-talent in the shape of 18-year-old Frenchman Paul Seixas.
'Our first objective is to stay in the top five in world cycling and, if possible, to climb the podium,' said general manager Dominique Serieys. 'We want to win the Tour de France by 2030 at the latest.'
With GC contenders increasingly gathering super-teams around them — UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike are the paradigmatic examples — Decathlon are laying the groundwork early. They are expected to sign Visma-Lease a Bike pair Olav Kooij and Tiesj Benoot from next season.
For the moment, their hopes will be carried by Austrian climber Felix Gall, who is aiming to better his best GC result of eighth after an impressive performance at the Tour de Suisse.
Jacob Whitehead
An awkward stage takes the Tour into Normandy. Another chance for the sprinters, but the likes of Merlier and Milan may be distanced over some of the short final climbs. Expect a reduced bunch at the very least.