Dylan Groenewegen snatched victory in a thrilling photo finish to stage three of this year’s Tour de France.
Wout van Aert took the lead as he sprinted for the line in Sonderborg but Dutch rider Groenewegen, 29, made a late surge to edge his fifth Tour win.
That capped a flat 182km route from Vejle and it was the third day running that Van Aert had to settle for second.
But the Belgian, 27, narrowly increased his overall lead as the Denmark leg of the Tour drew to a close.
The Jumbo-Visma rider is now seven seconds ahead of Yves Lampaert while two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar is third, 14 seconds off Van Aert.
Groenewegen’s victory also prevented Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl becoming the first team to win the first three stages of a Tour, after Lampaert won stage one and Fabio Jakobsen edged stage two on Saturday.
Dutch rider Jakobsen, making his Tour debut, was involved in the charge for the line but found himself out of position after the final turn and crossed in fifth on Sunday.
Meanwhile, another pile-up late in the race helped Britain’s Adam Yates and Tom Pidcock move up into the top 10 of the general classification.
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar was fortunate to escape trouble just retaining his balance as the peloton was split in two 10km from the finish. However, four-time winner Chris Froome was delayed for a second day on the trot, while Dutch rider Bauke Mollema dropped 30 places in the general classification.
Groenewegen had not won a stage at the Tour for three years and has been on a road to redemption since being involved in a serious collision which left his compatriot Jakobsen with horrific injuries at the Tour of Poland in 2020.
The incident saw Groenewegen handed a nine-month ban by world governing body the UCI and face death threats and abuse.
“It was a long way (back),” said the BikeExchange-Jayco rider. “I want to say thank you to my team and my family and friends for getting me back to the Tour in good shape. It’s beautiful.
“Not physically, but mentally it’s been a hard time of course after all that happened. This is for my wife and my son, it means a lot.”
The Tour now transfers to France and resumes with a hilly 171.5km route from Dunkirk to Calais on Tuesday.
Stage three results
1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/BikeExchange-Jayco) 4hrs 11mins 33secs
2. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
3. Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Deceuninck)
4. Peter Sagan (Svk/TotalEnergies)
5. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl)
6. Christophe Laporte (Fra/Jumbo-Visma)
7. Alberto Dainese (Ita/DSM)
8. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra/Arkea Samsic)
9. Caleb Ewan (Aus/Lotto-Soudal)
10. Danny van Poppel (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe)
General classification after stage three
1. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) 9hrs 01mins 17secs
2. Yves Lampaert (Bel/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +7secs
3. Tadaj Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +14secs
4. Mads Pedersen (Den/Trek-Segafredo) +18secs
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +20secs
6. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) +22secs
7. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) +23secs
8. Adam Yates (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +30secs
9. Stefan Kung (Swi/Groupama – FDJ Same time
10. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +31secs
Selected others
12. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +32secs
112. Chris Froome (GB/Israel-Premier Tech) +2mins 02secs
