COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen snatched victory in the third stage of the Tour de France, edging Wout van Aert on the line although the Belgian retained the overall race leader’s yellow jersey.
Bike Exchange rider Groenewegen ensured Jumbo’s van Aert finished second for the third time after the 182km stage, the last in Denmark before the race returns to France, with large crowds lining the route in the Jutland region.
Van Aert leads Yves Lampaert atop the overall standings by seven seconds with Tadej Pogacar in third at 14sec. The yellow jersey holder is also top of the sprint points rankings for the green jersey.
“I’m looking forwards to the next week in France,” said Van Aert, who could end up in yellow for a while. “The team has let me go for this, Primoz (Roglic) has his ambitions too and he’s looking great.”
“I always dreamed of wearing the yellow, but I wasn’t expecting these Danish stages to suit me,” he added.
Groenewgen was banned for nine months after causing the crash that almost killed Saturday’s winner Fabio Jakobsen, who spoke emotionally about his long struggle back to fitness after his rookie Tour de France win.
“I’m very happy for Fabio after everything that happened,” said a contrite Groenewegen about the crash at the 2020 Tour of Poland.
“He won yesterday but today was my day,” he said.
Jakobsen said Sunday morning he was still waiting for congratulations from his Quick-Step teammate Mark Cavendish, after the 25-year-old was selected ahead of the Manxman.