The 3rd stage of the Tour de France 2015 took place on July 6, 2015 and led from Antwerp over 159.5 kilometers to the Mur de Huy , which is also the final ascent and destination of the Flèche Wallonne . There were three mountain classifications in the 4th category after 109, 143 and 154 kilometers. There was also an intermediate sprint after 128 kilometers. The final climb was a 3rd category mountain classification. The third stage counted as a medium-difficult stage. All 198 drivers started.
First, Jan Bárta (BOA), Serge Pauwels (MTN), Martin Elmiger (IAM) and Bryan Nauleau (EUC) were able to pull away from the field by up to around three minutes. Due to the follow-up work of the favorite teams, he was no longer bigger and they were caught up again soon afterwards.
A little later there was a mass crash in which the overall leader Fabian Cancellara and Tom Dumoulin , who rode in the white jersey , were involved. A total of around 30 to 40 riders were involved in the fall. Four drivers, Tom Dumoulin, Simon Gerrans , Dmitri Kosontschuk and William Bonnet , had to give up the tour during the stage due to broken bones. Other riders finished the stage but could not compete the next day due to their injuries. Cancellara initially continued the race, but had clearly visible problems driving on. Shortly after the falls, the tour management stopped the race twice. The fallen drivers came back to the field. The first mountain classification on the Côte de Bohissau was run over neutralized and the race was then released again.
In the course of the next stage there was another formation of wind edges, in which Alejandro Valverde and Thibaut Pinot, among others, were left behind and fell back into the rear groups. The teams Tinkoff-Saxo, Sky and Astana set the pace up front. Shortly before the intermediate sprint, the rear group managed to reconnect with the front riders. André Greipel , in the green jersey, won the intermediate sprint ahead of John Degenkolb and Nacer Bouhanni . The peloton was later torn apart again by increasing the pace, driven by the teams around Contador, Froome and Tony Martin. Before the ascent to the Huy Wall, the leading group included all of the favorites in the overall standings, with the exception of Pinot. In the ascent, Chris Froome first attacked , but was then countered by Joaquim Rodríguez , who won the stage. Froome drove into the overall leader's yellow jersey, one second behind Tony Martin.
Scoring
Intermediate sprint in Havelange after 128 km on 291 m OP
Simon Gerrans (OGE): Task during the stage (mass fall)
Dmitri Kosontschuk (KAT): Task during the stage (mass fall)