Sisteron (France) (AFP)

Massive sprint and first victory for Caleb Ewan: the Australian, with the template of a pocket sprinter, was awarded the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday in Sisteron, where Julian Alaphilippe kept his yellow leader's jersey.

In a sprint against the wind, Ewan popped up in the final meters to beat Irishman Sam Bennett by one wheel.

The European champion, the Italian Giacomo Nizzolo, took third place in this 196-kilometer transition stage which saw the Tour leave its launch pad in Nice to join the Citadel of Sisteron, in Haute-Provence.

Ewan, 26, scored on the third day.

Last year, the "Aussie", a 1.65m sprinter, won three stages in the second half of the Tour, for his first participation.

"We lost some guys in the team," said Ewan, whose Lotto team was diminished from day one by the delay of the German John Degenkolb and the retirement the next morning of the Belgian Philippe Gilbert ( fractured patella).

"We knew that if everything went well, we could win today. I still had enough in my legs to do the sprint. I had to find the right line to gain speed," added the winner of the day.

- Cousin's adventure -

The stage was essentially summed up in its final and in the long adventure of Jérôme Cousin, who started at the front from the start of the race with two other Frenchmen, Anthony Pérez and Benoît Cosnefroy fighting for the jersey. polka dot best climber.

This three-way fugue, disturbed by an impromptu storm, turned into a solitary breakaway after 70 kilometers and obtaining points in the first two coasts listed by Pérez to the detriment of Cosnefroy.

The two then left Cousin to scout, for a long outing on the Napoleon road once taken by the Emperor on his return from Elba Island.

Cousin, however, was not disoriented.

After the containment due to the pandemic, the rider of the Total Direct Energie team of Jean-René Bernaudeau had offered a cycling trip of more than a week, in the south of Portugal, while sleeping with the locals.

This time, in the totally unbalanced match that opposed him to the peloton, Cousin was unable to redo the coup of Paris-Nice 2018. In Sisteron (already!), He had successfully completed a breakaway in the company of the German Nils Politt.

For his part, Pérez, in the process of seizing the polka-dot jersey, was unable to reach the city of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

The Aixois was forced to retire after a fall due to a collision with a team car which had braked in front of him, according to his Cofidis training.

Fractured rib with possible pneumothorax according to a first diagnosis, he was transported to the hospital of Digne-les-Bains.

Cousin's "solo" ended 16 kilometers from the finish, before the sprinters' teams entered into action.

The fourth stage, 160.5 kilometers long between Sisteron and Orcières-Merlette (Hautes-Alpes), marks the first arrival at the top of the event.

© 2020 AFP