Tour de France 2021 Stage 3 Highlights | Brutal Crashes Strike Jumbo Visma & Team Ineos!

Who will come out on top as Peter Sagan, Caleb Ewan, Mark Cavendish and Tim Merlier look to win their first stage of the Tour de France 2021?

Stage 3 will see the spotlight switch from the puncheurs to the sprinters as they fight it out on a flat(ish) route from Lorient to Pontivy. The run into the line is far from simple, after an undulating section through Guern the riders will fly down a short descent to the outskirts of Pontivy where they’ll then be met with a series of 90° bends. Only in the final 1.5km does the road straighten out, giving the sprinters and their leadout men a brief window in which to organise their trains. He who marshals his troops best, before unleashing his sprint from pole position at 200m to go, should come out on top.

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[DavidvdGulik]

The pronunciation of Schelling is so good I almost thought a Dutchman must've dubbed it, but it's actually the commentator. Great job!

[gregfisher]

Unreal, so many favorites are now behind and injured.

[Confusedcat]

such a crazy day. hope all riders are fine.

[fernandolemos]

Jesus... Can we have a day without crashes? It would be nice to see the favourites battling each other and not crashing before they get the chance.

[twraia]

It's so painful to watch them crashed like that. I hope Roglic is okay and can still come back

[alexsandoval]

I don’t think the supertuck rule is preventing crashes.

[nikolausschallhart]

Can anybody please help me to understand this?

Today was stage 3 of the Tour de France 2021. The stage was designed to be a sprinters stage and because it was only stage 3 there still was a huge peloton with all the sprinters in it. Additionally, there was neither a prologue nor a ttt prior to this stage which would possibly have settled general classification till the mountain stages. Therefore, even the GC contenders would try to sprint for bonus seconds. All this information made it clear, that there would be a furious pace in the last 10 km and literally everybody in this big peloton would try to be as far at the front of the race as possible…
And then you look at the last 10 km of the stage…WTF!
On 80% of this last 10 km the road was even too narrow for 2 cars passing each other at normal speed and for sure too narrow for a whole peloton sprinting. There were no “run-off areas” like parking lots or something similar, roadsides containing grass or gravel and the penultimate km was fenced with the old dangerous barricades with their stands protrude into the street (still!!! in 2021!!!). To say severe crashes were expectable is quite an understatement.
I’m just curious: Are there any reasonable rules of how the layout of the finale of a sprint stage should look like? And if yes, does the UCI care if these rules are adhered?
Does the UCI really think it does a suffivcient job on riders safety when prohibiting “super tuck” and “puppy paws” because these positions are dangerous?
Give me a break….

[Mark-oxbv]

They need to rename this the Crash de France.

[Wardawg-]

2 of my favorites Sagan and Ewan out geez. man get well soon Ewan.

[KaiLitzenberg]

Crashes really killing the excitement so far as well as putting the riders in danger. So Unfortunate to see the tour being decided by crashes in stages that should be inconsequential for GC-. -

[alexraymont]

Cycling is getting as bad to watch as ski racing is with knee injuries. Hope they can stop the crash epidemic. I want to watch athletes compete and not get smashed up.

[marks]

Never seen as many crashes in the first 3 days it’s been complete carnage.

[ConsciousBreaks]

Such a shame. It looked like Sagan could possibly have won the stage.

[mrrodriguezHLP]

Riding with a dislocated shoulder you popped back in on the road, isn't too bad. It's when you get home and cool off that it really starts to hurt.

[DH_]

1:42 Pogacar riding over another riders foot. Im sure that is something he would never do in normal circumstances which just shows what kind of pressure those riders are under in these situations.

[mscbijles]

Is this commentator Dutch? Or has he lived there a long time? Excellent pronunciation of the CH/G sound! That’s so difficult for any non-native speaker!

[PeterSdrolias]

Tour not even on tv in Canada!!! $150 to watch online. Brutal!

[perryroobay]

Sagan never takes his hands off his bars whilst crashing - today, flanders, tdf... 🙌
"ride them down" is what my coach used to say

[joeydirty]

As a racer, this is so hard to watch. I’ve had my share of road rash, but not at 30+mph.
Glad I now only race cross country here in Michigan. 👊🏼

[theRealDavidn]

Bonkers stage.... Dont think ive ever seen so many favourites crash on the same stage. And as for MvdP? Clearly he doesnt think he's important enough to get out of leadout duty for his teammates!!! what a guy :-)