Julian Alaphilippe produced a magnificent show of power in stage three on Monday to give France its first win and take the overall lead in the 2019 Tour de France.
The Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider gambled and attacked on the penultimate climb of the day, 15km from the finish in Epernay. He was strong enough to win by 23 seconds, despite a desperate effort from the pack to reel him in.
The crowd in the French Champagne region went wild as Alaphilippe rose in his saddle to swagger over the last steep climb, realising the overall leader’s yellow jersey was at stake.
At the line, the 27-year-old had maintained enough power to establish a 20 second lead over Belgian prodigy Wout van Aert in the overall standings. A lead he could hold for several days.
“I was really up for it today, so when I saw the chance I went all in,” said a red-faced Alaphilippe after his third ever stage win and his first yellow jersey. “It’s actually only starting to sink in now that I have the jersey,”.
The Tour crossed into France earlier in the stage after opening with two stages in Belgium.
“What a beautiful way to start the tour here in France,” he said. “Having this on my back is something I’ll never forget, its the recompense of everything I have done since I first got on a bike.”
Defending champion Geraint Thomas ended up 31 seconds off the pace at the end of the lung-busting final uphill stretch. The split occurred between Bernal and Thomas, who crossed the line in 12th and 13th place, respectively.
Overall, Bernal is now sixth, 40 seconds behind Alaphilippe with Thomas in seventh five seconds further back.
Tuesday’s fourth stage is a 213.5-km ride from Reims to Nancy with a likely bunch sprint finish.
Tour de France 2019 – stage 3 results (Binche – Épernay):
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 4:40:29 |
| 2 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | +26” |
| 3 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 4 | Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) | ,, |
| 5 | Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 6 | Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 7 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 8 | Xandro Meurisse (Wanty-Gobert) | ,, |
| 9 | Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 10 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 11 | Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 12 | Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) | ,, |
| 13 | Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) | +31” |
| 14 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | ,, |
| 15 | Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Gobert) | ,, |
| 16 | Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 17 | Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 18 | Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) | ,, |
| 19 | Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 20 | Michael Woods (EF Education First) | ,, |
Tour de France 2019 – general classification after stage 3:
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 9:32:19 |
| 2 | Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) | +20” |
| 3 | Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) | +25” |
| 4 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 5 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | +40” |
| 6 | Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) | ,, |
| 7 | Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) | +45” |
| 8 | Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +46” |
| 9 | Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) | +51” |
| 10 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 11 | Michael Woods (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 12 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +52” |
| 13 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First | +53” |
| 14 | Tejay Van Garderen (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 15 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) | +56” |
| 16 | Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) | +57” |
| 17 | David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 18 | Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’00” |
| 19 | Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 20 | Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) | +01’01” |
