Sønderborg Tour de France

Van Aert second in bunch sprint, maintains overall race lead.

Once again, though, it wasn't to be for Van Aert, who would have to settle for second place for the third day in a row as Groenewegen celebrating his first Tour win since 2019. Later on it emerged that GC contenders such as Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) shed over half a minute after getting caught in the crash. The likes of QuickStep, Lotto, BikeExchange, Bora-Hansgrohe, Groupama-FDJ, and Jumbo-Visma led the way on the flat run-in to Sønderborg. Before Cyclingnews, he was published in numerous publications around the cycling world, including Procycling, CyclingWeekly, CyclingTips, Cyclist, and Rouleur, among others. In a messy sprint, it was Jumbo-Visma who launched first at 200 metres to go with Van Aert hitting the air as Sagan followed behind. "It was a long way [back]," Groenewegen, who was caught in a crash mid-peloton at 10km to go, said after the finish. 55km after the first climb, Cort took another point atop the Côte de Hejlsminde Strand as the peloton passed over the top 2:50 up on the peloton. As with stage 2, three classified hills lay on the route, each offering a single point for the polka dot jersey. "I want to say thanks to my team, family and friends to bring me back to the Tour in a good shape. In the end I was on the right side. This time, though, instead of four men jumping off the front, it was polka dot jersey wearer Magnus Cort who ventured out alone. Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) was fifth after losing his lead-out in the final straight.

The final stage before we say 'farvel' to Denmark. A flat offering on the Jutland peninsula (the bit of the country actually connected to mainland Europe. We're ...

While we’re on home advantage (sort of), Mads Pedersen will be all-in to go better than third on stage 2 before the Tour leaves Denmark. Otherwise, it’s all about the usual in-form sprinters. Long gone are the days of Marcel Kittel and André Greipel, and there’s no Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) attempting to fill his elders’ shoes. Three fourth category climbs punctuate the route, to intermittently wake you up from your Sunday afternoon nap as Pierre Rolland tries to out-sprint polka-dot wearer Magnus Cort for one KOM point three times in a row.

Stage 3 of the Tour de France will take the riders from Vejle to Sønderborg in what will likely be another day for the sprinters.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 70s and partly cloudy skies, but wind will again be a factor. The riders will then follow a counterclockwise loop around the outside of the city center and up toward the finishing straight. The race comes into the center of town from the west, looping around and under itself just after crossing a bridge onto the island about 6km from the finish line.