Lorient (AFP)
The Tour de France peloton set off on Monday at 1:21 p.m. from Lorient for the 3rd stage of the Tour de France, flat and therefore deemed favorable to sprinters.
A total of 180 riders took the start of this stage in Morbihan towards Pontivy, 182.9 km long.
Arrival is scheduled between 5:20 p.m. and 5:50 p.m.
The peloton includes the new yellow jersey Mathieu van der Poel, winner on Sunday at Mûr-de-Bretagne, and the green jersey Julian Alaphilippe, first leader of the 108th edition of the Grande Boucle.
With only two fourth category climbs on the runners' menu, the last being placed more than 30 kilometers from the finish, the course is essentially flat and could benefit sprinters, after an opening weekend more to the taste of punchers. .
The home stretch is 1,400 meters long and could smile at Caleb Ewan (Lotto) or Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), or even veterans Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck) and André Greipel (ISN).
Birthplace of the French time trial champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot and of the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) David Lappartient, the city of Pontivy is hosting the Tour for the first time.
© 2021 AFP