Tour de France LIVE: Stage 3 result as Dylan Groenewegen wins photo finish after crash

Stage 3 of the 2022 Tour de France concludes this opening three-day jaunt in Denmark with a 182km route down the east coast of the mainland, finishing in the town of Sonderborg, a small town which straddles the Strait of Alssund. The old town is on the island of Als and the peloton must cross King Christian X’s Bridge before sweeping round the southern and eastern edges of the town, which will bring them to a sharp left bend before a sprint finish line into the heart of Sonderborg.

Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen triumphed on stage 2 and he will be hunting for another win amid a Tour de France with very few opportunities ahead for the fast men. That means his sprint rivals will be equally determined to get their hands on a stage, with riders like Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) aiming to challenge Jakobsen at the finish. Wout van Aert will look to hold on to the yellow jersey before tomorrow’s rest day as the Tour switches to northern France.

Follow the latest updates from stage 3 of the 2022 Tour de France below.

Tour de France stage 3

• Stage 3 under way on 182km route down Danish coastline

• Sprinters set to contest bunch finish in Sonderborg

• 155km to go: Magnus Cort Nielsen banks polka dot jersey with KoM point

• 90 km to go: Wout van Aert increases green jersey lead at intermediate sprint

Dylan Groenewegen wins stage 3!

16:26 , Lawrence Ostlere

Groenewegen pinches the stage victory in a photo finish – I think!

Tour de France stage 3

16:25 , Lawrence Ostlere

Groenewegen, Van Aert, Sagan all sprinting for line...

Tour de France stage 3

16:25 , Lawrence Ostlere

1km to go: Sagan moves up but Jakobsen is falling back...

Tour de France stage 3

16:24 , Lawrence Ostlere

2km to go: All the big sprinters seem to be involved here – this is going to be another thrilling sprint finish. Can Jakobsen make it two from two?

Tour de France stage 3

16:23 , Lawrence Ostlere

3km to go: Yves Lampaert of QuickStep gets his elbows out to try and control this sprint finish, but Mathieu van der Poel is dragging Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jasper Philipsen in to position too.

Tour de France stage 3

16:21 , Lawrence Ostlere

A look at that crash which sent a huge number of riders tumbling and split the peloton:

Tour de France stage 3

16:21 , Lawrence Ostlere

5km to go: Bike-Exchange are up there too, trying to get in position for Dylan Groenewegen to contest the sprint finish.

Tour de France stage 3

16:20 , Lawrence Ostlere

6km to go: The front group cross the bridge into the heart of Sonderborg as they near the finish. Jumbo-Visma and QuickStep lead the way...

Tour de France stage 3

16:16 , Lawrence Ostlere

Crash! As the road narrowed, a couple of riders slowed and their shoulders touched, and a ripple effect sent a huge number of riders tumbling. It didn’t look like there were any major injuries but there are going to be some huge time losses – the front group have sped off with no mercy.

Tour de France stage 3

16:13 , Lawrence Ostlere

10km to go: The road has narrowed as the bunch approaches the finish town of Sonderborg, forcing one or two riders out on to the grass edges either side. A variety of teams are up at the front, with Jumbo-Visma and Lotto-Soudal occupying the left-hand side of the peloton’s nose and QuickStep on the right side.

Tour de France stage 3

16:10 , Lawrence Ostlere

14km go to: Bora-Hansgrohe are up front, though I’m not totally sure why, given they didn’t bring Sam Bennett to the Tour to challenge on sprint stages like this one.

Tour de France stage 3

16:06 , Lawrence Ostlere

Here’s a tweet showing the intricate finish with that sharp left-hander into the finish straight. Hopefully everyone navigates through safely.

Tour de France stage 3

16:03 , Lawrence Ostlere

20km to go: The big contenders for this sprint finish – Van Aert, Jakobsen, Philipsen – are all well positioned near the front of the bunch with teammates in close attendance.

Tour de France stage 3

15:59 , Lawrence Ostlere

A closer look at the finish in Sonderborg:

Tour de France stage 3

15:55 , Lawrence Ostlere

27km to go: We are surging east towards the island of Als, and the town of Sonderborg where this stage finishes.

Tour de France stage 3

15:47 , Lawrence Ostlere

33km to go: Through the final feeding zone they go. Jumbo-Visma’s Nathan van Hooydonck tries to collect a second bottle for one of his teammates and ends up slapping it into the road. Not so smooth. Behind him, Ineos’s Dylan van Baarle grabs a couple of fuel bags, presumably one for himself and one for his team leader Geraint Thomas.

Tour de France stage 3

15:40 , Lawrence Ostlere

40km to go: The pack are being let by Lotto Soudal right now, Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan’s team, with QuickStep right up there too of course, looking to make it a hat-trick of wins.

Tour de France stage 3

15:37 , Lawrence Ostlere

Before we get to the real stuff at the end of this race, an interesting little behind-the-scenes clip:

Tour de France stage 3

15:24 , Lawrence Ostlere

50km to go: Magnus Cort is finally caught by the bunch, and the whole race is as one as the key sprinters’ teams begin nudging shoulders in an effort to assume control on the front. Yesterday’s late crash was a reminder that the front is certainly the safest place in the peloton when things get edgey in the final throes.

Tour de France stage 3

15:15 , Lawrence Ostlere

Magnus Court has clung on to his lead all the way to the third and final categorised climb of the day, and that takes his tally to six King of the Mountain points. He has early command of the polka dot jersey.

Tour de France stage 3

15:03 , Lawrence Ostlere

65km to go: An interesting sub-plot...

Tour de France stage 3

14:53 , Lawrence Ostlere

Some of the best images from the day so far, as we approach the business end of the stage:

Intermediate sprint, top five

14:45 , Lawrence Ostlere

1. Magnus Cort Nielsen (EFE), 20 points

2. Wout van Aert (TJV), 17

3. Fabio Jakobsen (QST), 15

4. Christophe Laporte (TJV), 13

5. Peter Sagan (TEN), 11

Tour de France stage 3

14:40 , Lawrence Ostlere

Magnus Cort’s solo lead is down to around one minute, and it looks like he will soon be swept up by the bunch as the sprinters’ teams start to jostle for superiority at the front.

Overall standings (top 10 after 2 of 21 stages)

14:37 , Lawrence Ostlere

1. Wout van Aert, Belgium, Jumbo-Visma, 4:49:50.

2. Yves Lampaert, Belgium, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, 1 second behind.

3. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates, 08.

4. Filippo Ganna, Italy, Ineos Grenadiers, 11.

5. Mads Pedersen, Denmark, Trek-Segafredo, 12.

6. Mathieu van der Poel, Netherlands, Alpecin-Deceuninck, 14.

7. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Jumbo-Visma, 16.

8. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, Jumbo-Visma, 17.

9. Bauke Mollema, Netherlands, Trek-Segafredo, 18.

10. Dylan Teuns, Belgium, Bahrain Victorious, 21.

Tour de France stage 3

14:32 , Lawrence Ostlere

The sprinters are shuffling towards the front as this intermediate sprint approaches – Fabio Jakobsen in the green jersey and Wout van Aert in the yellow are both up there with Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan battling too. They surge to the line and Van Aert takes it to increase his lead in the sprinters’ standings (Jakobsen is only wearing green today because Van Aert is already in yellow).

Tour de France stage 3

14:27 , Lawrence Ostlere

92km to go: Another look at today’s profile – Cort is approaching the intermedate sprint and the peloton is now only 2 min 40 sec behind, with UAE Emirates near the front on the bunch.

Tour de France stage 3

14:21 , Lawrence Ostlere

97 km to go: Magnus Cort reaches the top of the second climb of the day four minutes ahead of the peloton and that’s another King of the Mountains point in the bank. Next on the horizon is the intermediate sprint – Cort will get there first but then the sprinters will be eager to pick up the remaining scraps of green jersey points.

Tour de France stage 3

14:16 , Lawrence Ostlere

Chris Froome suffered a minor crash yesterday towards the end of the stage, and managed to avoid major injury:

“I think it’s always to be expected, the first few road stages of the Tour are always going to be stressful,” he said before the start of stage 3. “I took a little tumble towards the final of yesterday, the crash with 2km to go, but that one I came off pretty lucky, all things considered.

“Not the best night, but it could have been much worse. It could have been like last year, where I was in a lot of pain. This time it was just a few grazes, and that was it. So I consider myself lucky.”

Tour de France stage 3

14:10 , Lawrence Ostlere

A nice little Twitter thread here on three of the favourites for the stage victory. Wout van Aert’s skills profile is just ridiculous:

Tour de France stage 3

14:01 , Lawrence Ostlere

110km to go: Magnus Cort remains around three and a half minutes out in front on his own and it looks like he might get to pinch another point at the second categorised climb of the day.

Tour de France stage 3

13:47 , Lawrence Ostlere

120km to go: The most exciting thing that’s happened in the peloton, up to now, is Pogacar and Van Aert taking a pitstop to answer a call of nature – they’ve caught back up with the group. A few injections of speed from Quickstep in particular, having moved things along, and they are doing their best to control the front with the aim of setting up Fabio Jakobsen for the sprint finish in Sonderborg.

Tour de France stage 3

13:37 , Lawrence Ostlere

Another Dane, Kasper Asgreen on riding through his hometown, Kolding, today:

It’s going to be super special. I’ve heard rumours about all the celebrations that’s going to be happening in my hometown, in the last couple of months. So I’m super excited to see everything now.

It’s been my training roads for the last 12 years, so – maybe except the last 40km towards Sonderborg, that’s a bit too far south for me – but everything else I know like the back of my hand.

I’ve been looking forward to this stage for a long time, and I’m just excited to get rolling now.I think there is a few tricky points out there where it could be an advantage to know, but I think most of the teams are so well prepared nowadays, I think most of them is going to know as well. But if there’s a small advantage it’s always nice.”

Wout van Aert wearing yellow

13:28 , Lawrence Ostlere

Is there any other rider who could win just about any given stage of the Tour de France? Van Aert has time trial, sprint and mountain stages on his CV, having triumphed up the iconic Mont Ventoux in last year’s race. To win on Ventoux and the Champs-Elysees, as he did in 2021, is extraordinary. A seriously multi-talented rider.

Tour de France stage 3

13:23 , Lawrence Ostlere

Wout van Aert finished second in both of the first two stages, which might ordinarily be a reason to be frustrated, but the Belgian has of course grabbed the yellow jersey, by one second, a prestigious prize in its own right.

Tour de France stage 3

13:14 , Lawrence Ostlere

145km to go: The crowds have been absolutely sensational in Denmark over the past couple of days, and they continue to line the route in huge numbers. Just look at this image of Magnus Cort approaching the Koldingvej summit earlier, which resembles a scene from Alpe d’Huez.

Tour de France stage 3

13:11 , Lawrence Ostlere

Magnus Cort remains out in front of the peloton on his own by about five minutes. He’s got about 45km to go until he reaches the next categorised climb, so he may try and hang around out in front in order to pick up another King of the Mountains point. Either way, the polka dot jersey is secured for when they arrive in France on Tuesday.

Geraint Thomas welcomes ‘Grandad’ Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France underdog tip

12:57 , Lawrence Ostlere

More on Geraint Thomas:

Geraint Thomas was happy to hear his prospects for yellow at this year’s Tour de France talked up by “Grandad Brad” Wiggins but insisted he will take things as they come over the next three weeks.

Thomas goes into Friday’s opening stage in Copenhagen on the back of victory in the Tour de Suisse two weeks ago. However, he is one of three leaders of the Ineos Grenadiers – alongside Dani Martinez and Adam Yates – as they look to take on the likes of defending champion Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic.

Wiggins last week told a Eurosport podcast that the 36-year-old Welshman might be an underdog this summer but warned to “dismiss Geraint Thomas at your peril” as he backed him for a podium finish.

Magnus Cort Nielsen first up Koldingvej climb

12:53 , Lawrence Ostlere

155km to go: The Danish fans are out in force once more today and they are delighted to see their man Magnus Cort pick up the King of the Mountains point he needs to lock in the polka dot jersey for the Tour’s arrival in France on Tuesday. He will sit up and relax now, you suspect, and let the peloton slowly reel him in.

Tour de France stage 3

12:50 , Lawrence Ostlere

Geraint Thomas has enjoyed a relatively smooth first two days of this Tour, for him. His main hiccup came when he forget to take off his warm-up jacket before embarking on the stage 1 time trial, which may have cost him a few seconds, but he sits comfortably in the top 20 overall, 26 seconds behind the early race leader Van Aert.

Tour de France 2022 top 10

12:42 , Lawrence Ostlere

Overall Standings, (After 2 of 21 stages)

1. Wout van Aert, Belgium, Jumbo-Visma, 4:49:50.

2. Yves Lampaert, Belgium, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, 1 second behind.

3. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates, 08.

4. Filippo Ganna, Italy, Ineos Grenadiers, 11.

5. Mads Pedersen, Denmark, Trek-Segafredo, 12.

6. Mathieu van der Poel, Netherlands, Alpecin-Deceuninck, 14.

7. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Jumbo-Visma, 16.

8. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, Jumbo-Visma, 17.

9. Bauke Mollema, Netherlands, Trek-Segafredo, 18.

10. Dylan Teuns, Belgium, Bahrain Victorious, 21.

Tour de France stage 3

12:37 , Lawrence Ostlere

Cort has quickly built a five-minute lead over the leisurely peloton, and he’s about halfway to the first climb of the day, the Cote de Koldingvej. The day’s three climbs are all category four, meaning they are worth just one point each in the King of the Mountains classification.

Tour de France stage 3

12:32 , Lawrence Ostlere

170km to go: Denmark’s very own Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education) is in the King of the Mountains’ polka dot jersey today, and he’s straight off up the road looking to get to the first climb of the day before the rest to ensure he will still wear the polka dots come the Tour’s arrival in France on Tuesday.

Tour de France stage 3

12:20 , Lawrence Ostlere

Here we go then – stage 3 is under way in Denmark! Just 180km to go...

Stage 2 report

12:05 , Lawrence Ostlere

Here’s what happened yesterday, as Fabio Jakobsen claimed his maiden Tour de France stage win after a chaotic finish on day two:

Fabio Jakobsen avoided the pitfalls of a chaotic finish to stage two of the Tour de France to deliver an emotional victory in Nyborg, Denmark.

Jakobsen, making his Tour debut less than two years after suffering life-threatening injuries in a crash at the Tour of Poland, stayed clear of late spills at the end of the 202.5km stage from Roskilde to come around Mads Pedersen and beat Wout van Aert – who consoled himself by taking the yellow jersey.

The day had been designed to build up to fireworks on the 18km-long Great Belt Bridge in the finale, but it was after the peloton returned to dry land that the key incidents occurred as a crash blocked the road inside the final three kilometres, leaving a select group of sprinters to contest the honours.

Jakobsen claims maiden Tour de France stage win after chaotic finish on day two

Tour de France 2022 stage-by-stage guide

11:50 , Lawrence Ostlere

Once this three-day jaunt in Denmark is over, Tte Tour will pack its bags and head to north-west France over Monday’s first rest day. Here’s what’s to come:

Tour de France 2022 stage-by-stage guide

How to watch on TV and online

11:47 , Lawrence Ostlere

Tour de France coverage can be found this year on ITV4, Eurosport, Discovery+ and GCN+ (Global Cycling Network).

Live racing each day will be shown on ITV4 before highlights typically at 7pm each day. ITV’s website lists timings here.

Eurosport and GCN+ will show every minute of every stage. More on Eurosport’s coverage here and the GCN+ coverage here.

It is also being shown on Eurosport’s Discovery+ streaming service, with broadcast info here.

Stage 3 start time

11:41 , Lawrence Ostlere

The stage is scheduled to begin at around 12:15pm BST and should finish around 4:15pm BST.

Stage 3 map

11:38 , Lawrence Ostlere

Here’s a look at the route, from Vejle to Sonderborg:

Stage 3 profile

11:33 , Lawrence Ostlere

There are three category four climbs which the man in the King of the Mountains’ polka dot jersey, Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education), will target for more points to strengthen his grip. There is also an intermediate sprint shortly after the second of those climbs where the man in sprinters’ green, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), will hope to pick up some points.

Crosswinds could play a factor, especially in the second half of the route when the road hugs the coastline, and the main contenders will need to be wary of any potential attacks which could split the bunch. After yesterday’s crashes, staying safe and making to the finish intact will be the overriding priority of those hoping to challenge near the top of the general classification, like double champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) and Denmark’s very own Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).

Tour de France stage 3

11:26 , Lawrence Ostlere

Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen triumphed on stage 2 to silence anyone questioning Quickstep’s decision to leave Mark Cavendish at home, and he will be hunting for another win amid a Tour de France with very few opportunities ahead for the fast men.

That means his sprint rivals will be equally determined to get their hands on a stage, with riders like Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) aiming to challenge Jakobsen at the finish in Sonderborg

Tour de France stage 3

11:22 , Lawrence Ostlere

Stage 3 of the 2022 Tour de France concludes this opening three-day jaunt in Denmark with a 182km route down the east coast of the mainland, finishing in the town of Sonderborg, a small town which straddles the Strait of Alssund.

The old town is on the island of Als and the peloton must cross King Christian X’s Bridge before sweeping round the southern and eastern edges of the town, which will bring them to a sharp left bend before a sprint finish line into the heart of Sonderborg.