Race log
Fonseca 141km alone in the lead!
198 riders started stage 3 of the 103rd Tour de France at Granville. Armindo Fonseca (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) rode away from the gun. He got a maximum advantage of 11.05 at km 25, after which the Tinkoff team set a tempo at the head of the peloton but the Breton rider was still able to exit Normandy and enter his province alone in the lead. The peloton kept cruising on a slow motion. 100km before the finish in Angers, Fonseca was four minutes ahead of the peloton. Ten kilometers further, Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) became the second attacker of the day as Fonseca was six minutes ahead. The two were reunited at Gastines with 83km to go.
Fonseca and Voeckler caught 8km before the end
On the line of the intermediate sprint at Bouillé-Ménard (km 171), Fonseca and Voeckler were just 40 seconds ahead of the peloton. They carried on until 8km to go. Several sprinters' teams prepared the final rush. Mark Cavendish was positioned by his team-mates right behind André Greipel as he knew the German national champion was his main rival on such a slightly uphill terrain. As he claimed his second win out of three stages this year, the Brit equaled Bernard Hinault with 28 stage victories in the history of the Tour de France.
