Key events
145 km to go: Alpecin, the team of Mathieu van der Poel, are leading the peloton through le campagne. The bucket hat appears on trend for those at the roadside.
150 km to go: Seems the chasing pack is happy to keep the breakaway at two minutes, and they will pick them up later.
155km to go: Heartwarming story from Reuters on Monday:
Eleven bicycles belonging to Cofidis, stolen overnight before the second stage of the Tour de France, have been recovered, the team’s general manager Cedric Vasseur said on Monday following the third stage of the race.
“I had Christian Prudhomme (the Tour’s director) on the phone during the stage. He was with the prefect to tell us that the bikes had been found in the afternoon”, Vasseur told France TV after the conclusion of the third stage.
The team had earlier reported that five of the 11 bikes had been recovered. “Some of the staff combed the area and managed to get their hands on five bicycles, which had been thrown away by the criminals in undergrowth near the hotel”, the team said in a press release.
The race is going full gas, almost 50km per hour. We are in Macron country here, in the sense that Manu comes from here. Asgreen catches up with the breakaway and they welcome him into their four-man brotherhood.
160 km to go: Van der Poel takes a comfort break as the peloton deigns to the race leader and sits up. Asgreen is giving everything up the hill as he chases that trio of escapees.
Huw Morgan gets in touch: “Just been to Amiens to watch the depart. Always a strange experience “watching” cycling live. We drove an hour and 10 minutes for our 10 month old baby to basically gawp at a 150 young men on their bikes. Wout and Pogacar stopped right in front of us so we feel lucky. My wife’s sense from watching them all at the start was that Jonas looks good and Pogacar looks good. We expect a Royal rumble in Rouen.”
Let’s hope Mrs Morgan is right.
165 km to go: They leave Amiens behind, the city of Jules Verne, where Federico Fellini made Clowns, having crossed the Somme. Not that the peloton is thinking of such deep culture as Kasper Asgreen, a Classic winner, sets off to join a breakaway that’s already go almost two minutes on the pack. No panic just yet, long way to go.
Off they go in Amiens
173 km to go: And we have two breakers in the wind, Lenny Martinez and Jonas Abrahamsen, are those taking it up. The word on the radio is that the wind is high. Will we be seeing echelons already? Thomas Gachingnard goes in chase. None of these are GC contenders so the peloton is relaxed enough. There’s plenty of battles waiting up the road.
Nick Wayne on Bryan Coquard, culpable, if unluckily, in the exit of Philipsen: “Out of interest, what about these yellow cards? Was it considered that he didn’t merit one? If it was mentioned, I missed it. Not that he deserved it as it seemed accidental.”
Coquard: “Obviously, it wasn’t my intention to cause a crash; I didn’t want to take any risks. I was clearly thrown off balance, I almost lost my shoe. Even if it wasn’t intentional, I want to apologize to Philipsen and Alpecin-Deceuninck. Even if I’m not a bad guy, it’s not pleasant.”
Alpecin co-manager Phillip Roodhoft: “Jasper is the victim of something he’s totally not involved in, that’s clear. To be honest, the two others who collided, I think it’s not about blaming. It’s just a stupid crash. Things can happen, and the consequences for us as a team, but mainly for Jasper, are very bad, but what can you say? Bad things happen sometimes.”
And yet, Coquard is on a yellow.
Jeremy Boyce is in touch: “As you say, different profile today. With 2 flat stages and a tt to come, but the mountains literally and metaphorically looming, it’s maybe a day for the gc teams and contenders to show themselves and put some pressure on their rivals? Will the Vismas have a go, or are they already running scared of UAE/Pogacar ? Or keeping their cards close/powder dry ?”
James Irwin gets in touch: “Love your football work, both written and on the Football Weekly pod. (Thanks, James, really appreciated). Thought I would say Bonjour from Gournay-en-Bray, about 60km into today’s stage of the Tour. On holiday with my family on a campsite about two hours away and we are big cycling fans so decided we had to come along. Plenty of atmosphere in this village for the race. Should be a good ending to the stage today once it reaches Côte Jacques Anquetil. Will enjoy reading your live updates while we sit here for the next few hours. Cheers, James Irwin (with wife Tracey and daughter Charlotte, 13.”
Enjoy, team.
Jacques Anquetil, a Rouen native and five-time Tour winner, is remembered with a monument on the Côte Jacques Anquetil climb, which today’s route includes.
The legend was profiled here in these pages:
Jacques Anquetil (France) 1961, 1962, 1963
Master Jacques came of Norman farming stock, and was a superlative time-trialist whose strength against the clock made him the first man to win five Tours. Famous as a man who liked to live well – champagne, cigars, oysters – he raced up to 230 times a year and made no bones about the fact that in order to do so it was necessary to take drugs. Died of stomach cancer in 1987.
Only Chris Froome has won three Tour de France in succession since as we’re not counting you know who.
The départ fictif is in session in the city of Amiens, and the road to Rouen begins. Now they know how Joan of Arc felt…the streets are full. The Tour de France has visited Rouen 18 times since 1957, and it’s the 14th time for Amiens, though the first since 1977. That year, a finish in Rouen saw Dutchman Fedor den Hertog take the stage, the yellow jersey eventually taken by Bernard Thévenet, a two-time winner with a mixed reputation. Rouen hosted a 2012 stage, won by sprinter supreme Andre Greipel, the GC winner that year was…Bradley Wiggins…yeah, Le Tour is Le Tour.
Here’s Monday’s stage report from Jeremy Whittle.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider had been contesting the intermediate sprint at Isbergues when Coquard moved to the right and touched shoulders with another rider, before swerving across into the Belgian’s path, causing him to crash.
“I’m not a bad guy,” a visibly distressed Coquard said at the finish. “I apologise to Alpecin, even if I didn’t mean to do anything. I almost lost my shoe and there was nothing I could do.”
Preamble
Bonjour, tout le monde. Le Tour is Le Tour as we say every year. The casualties pile high, with Jasper Philipsen joining the list yesterday and Remco Evenepoel on the deck, but back up soon as they sped into Dunkirk. These flat stages are often where the pain is sharpest, the speed they rattle along at. Today, still in northern France, will be a bit different, with a Classic-style configuration, with lots of climbs before in the last third, the tough gets going, with repeated nasty climbs. One for the breakaway clubs, and hard work for the team captains, a day of rouleurs and puncheurs. And most probably Tadej Pogacar.
Per William Fotheringham’s pre-Tour guide.
A welter of little hills in the finale including the Rampe Saint-Hilaire, a 750m “wall” in the city centre, 5km from the finish; there will be huge stress for all the contenders trying to get in place for these. Evocatively, one of the late hills is the Côte de Bonsecours, where Jean Robic staged a final-day heist to win the 1947 Tour, but in the Pogacar era there’s not much chance of a repeat.
