Groenewegen pips Van Aert to win TDF stage 3 in photo finish
SONDERBORG, Denmark (AP) — Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen overtook Wout van Aert and Peter Sagan at the line to win the third stage of the Tour de France in a photo finish while Van Aert extended his overall lead on Sunday.
Groenewegen got behind record seven-time Tour sprint champion Sagan’s wheel when he was battling with Van Aert, and found a gap to squeeze through and nudge his wheel over the line to win for the BikeExchange–Jayco team.
Groenewegen’s fifth Tour stage win came a day after Fabio Jakobsen’s first. Two years ago, Groenewegen was blamed for a heavy crash at the Tour of Poland that sent Jakobsen flying through roadside crash barriers. Jakobsen was put in an induced coma and needed five hours of surgery on his skull and face.
Sagan was angry with Van Aert, muttering angrily and wagging his finger at him after they crossed the line because he found himself boxed to the right and close to the barriers. But there was no contact and Sagan even appeared to lean on Van Aert.
Van Aert picked up a six-second bonus and is now seven seconds ahead of Yves Lampaert and 14 ahead of two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar in the standings. Pogacar’s rival Primoz Roglic, the 2020 Tour runner-up, is seventh overall and stayed nine seconds behind Pogacar.
The stage started in Vejle on the Jutland Peninsula and ended in Sonderborg in southern Denmark after 182 kilometers (113 miles) of flat racing. Groenewegen’s winning time was 4 hours, 11 minutes, 33 seconds.
Van Aert wore the leader’s yellow jersey for the Jumbo–Visma team after taking it for the first time on Saturday.
Huge crowds packed the roadsides in sparkling sunshine as the Danish suporters wearing red and white turned out in force. Proudly wearing the best climber’s polka-dot jersey he claimed on Saturday, Danish rider Magnus Cort, who was in the early breakway group on Saturday, pulled away to take a solo lead for 130 kilometers before being caught with about 50 kilometers left.
Cort picked up more points over the three minor climbs — including the Hejlsminde Strand, the lowest of these at 40 meters above sea level — to keep the jersey until Tuesday. He held up three fingers to celebrate with his home fans and then waved to them after the pack swallowed him up.
Several riders fell on a cobblestone section with about 10 kilometers left but got back up to continue.
After a travel day, the riders will tackle five small climbs on the route from the coastal city of Dunkerque to Calais.
The race ends on July 24 in Paris.
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