TOUR’22 Stage 3: Grand Groenewegen!

Tour Stage 3 Report: After a long solo break by local KOM, Magnus Cort, the stage came down to a bunch sprint in Sønderborg. It was a fast run-in at over 60 kph and after the usual jostling and bumping, Dylan Groenewegen pushed his wheel over the finish-line just ahead of the yellow jersey of Wout van Aert. Jasper Philipsen, Peter Sagan and Fabio Jakobsen filled the top 5. Van Aert held onto the yellow jersey.

The last K

A close and hard fought win for Dylan Groenewegen

The third stage of the 2022 Tour de France was won by Dylan Groenewegen. The Dutchman of BikeExchange-Jayco was the fastest in the bunch sprint in Sønderborg after a flat stage of 182 kilometres. Wout van Aert finished second, again, and will keep the yellow jersey through the first rest day of this Tour. Jasper Philipsen finished third.

Stage 3 profile

Christian Prudhomme on stage 3: “Although the route never strays far from the coast on the Jutland peninsula, it will be less exposed to the wind than the day before and that should make it easier for the sprinters’ teams to control the race. Before a transfer and an unusually early first rest day, this stage should see the first round in the battle between the sprinters.”

The start in Vejle

Urán the Viking

On the third day of the Grand Départ in Denmark, the public turned out in their thousands. Immediately after the start in Vejle there was an attack from the KOM jersey wearer Magnus Cort. No one went with him, not even a Frenchman from a ‘wild card’ team.

The jerseys at the start

The peloton let the polka dot jersey go. In no time Cort was more than 6 minutes ahead of the fairly disinterested bunch. When the lead got to 6:30, the first sprinter’s teams started to chase, to keep the gap from getting any bigger. Cort enjoyed the massive attention of ‘his’ of public.

The yellow and KOM jerseys

Star of the day again, Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost)

Due to his solo ride, the Dane of EF Education-EasyPost was also able to take all the mountain points on all three climbs. On the Côte de Koldingvej, the Côte de Heljsmilde Strand and Côte de Genner Strand, which were all Cat 4, he was the first to come on top, bringing his KOM total to six.

Taco Van Der Hoorn and Wout van Aert coming through the crowds of fans

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, BikeExchange-Jayco, Alpecin-Fenix ​​and Lotto Soudal took the lead and slowly narrowed the lead to under 3 minutes. At the intermediate sprint in Christiansfeld, the difference had dropped. Yellow jersey, Wout van Aert took 17 points, ahead of Fabio Jakobsen (15), Christophe Laporte (13), Peter Sagan (11) and Caleb Ewan (10).

Stage 2 winner, Fabio Jakobsen wearing green for Van Aert

The Danes love the Tour

Magnus Cort expanded his lead again, which then fluctuated around 1:30 for a long time. At 55 kilometres from the finish, the pace in the peloton picked up considerably, as did the wind on the road to Sønderborg. As a result, Cort’s escape quickly came to an end. Several teams then came to the front with their sprint trains to keep their leaders out of trouble.

Cort took all the KOM points

In the finalé it also started to rain a little, but it didn’t cause any problems. Ten kilometres from the finish there was a short and narrow cobblestone section, where the peloton split into two parts. Giulio Ciccone, Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso and others were behind the split. At the front, the pace continued to pick up on a technical route through Sønderborg.

Gilbert chased a bit

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl hit the front in the last 5 kilometres, but Mathieu van der Poel came alongside with the Alpecin-Deceuninck train under the 3 kilometre banner. It was Fabio Jakobsen’s train that was first into the last bend at 800 metres, but Jakobsen lost a lot of places there.

Not a day at the beach

Wout van Aert had an ideal lead-out. The yellow jersey was the first to start the sprint at just under 200 metres to go. Van Aert seemed to be heading for the win, but he was passed by Dylan Groenewegen in the metre. The difference between the two was minimal. Jasper Philipsen also finished fast, but ended up in third place.

Unbelievable amount of fans

Peter Sagan finished fourth and was angry with Van Aert, because he thought that the Belgian closed the door on him against the barriers. Behind Sagan, Jakobsen was fifth. Nyborg’s winner was unable to sprint for the win after losing too many places on the final corner.

It was close

Stage winner, Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco): “I crashed with 9km to go but the team brought me back. Amund Groendahl Jansen put me in a perfect position even though I got boxed. He’s very strong. He was my team-mate before at Jumbo-Visma. He went full gas for me. I took a lot of wind and my legs were tired but I still had enough to sprint to the line. Wout van Aert always joke, saying that if you are not sure of having won, you still claim the victory and you celebrate. That’s what I did. I understood I won from the sport directors screaming in the car. Then I found my father. He follows me for three weeks but usually I don’t see him and today he was there, right in front of me. It was special to share that moment with him and make him happy too. My family supported me greatly after what happened [the crash at the 2020 Tour de Pologne that resulted in a ban for him]. My new team has put a lot of faith in me and a great train to lead me out. Every victory at the Tour de France is special, not only this one.”

Emotional win for Dylan Groenewegen

Overall leader and 2nd on the stage, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): “It has been such a great day to be in yellow. In general, Denmark has been excellent because it has been amazing to experience the warm welcome that the public has given us. Now I’m proud to take this yellow jersey into France. As for today’s sprint, I am bit angry at myself because of the missed opportunity. The last corner was a bit sharper than expected. Christophe [Laporte] and I took the inner side, and because of that we didn’t lose too much speed and came out in perfect position for the sprint. Then I started my effort a bit early, without fully using Christophe’s help. I should have waited more behind his wheel. It was messy, yeah, but every sprint is. I will try to win pretty much every day on this Tour de France. These two days we have had two regular sprints. From now on the stages will be harder, and that’s good for me. I’m looking forward to the cobbled stage, as it suits me quite well. The Tour de France has just begun.”

Van Aert keeps the green and the yellow jersey

# All the Tour news in EUROTRASH and the ‘Rest Day Round Up’ on Monday. #

Tour de France Stage 3 Result:
1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco in 4:11:33
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
3. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
4. Peter Sagan (Slk) TotalEnergies
5. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
6. Christophe Laporte (Fra) Jumbo-Visma
7. Alberto Dainese (Ita) DSM
8. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
9. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
10. Danny van Poppel (Ned) BORA-hansgrohe.

Tour de France Overall After Stage 3:
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma in 9:01:17
2. Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl at 0:07
3. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 0:14
4. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo at 0:18
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck at 0:20
6. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma at 0:22
7. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma at 0:23
8. Adam Yates (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:30
9. Michael Matthews (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco at 0:32
10. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers.

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