Mads Pedersen won a sprint finish to take the third stage of the Paris-Nice on Tuesday.
For a third day Jumbo-Visma set the kind of relentlessly high pace that has given them top three in the overall standings and exposed fitness levels of anyone not on full form. Christophe Laporte is in the yellow jersey with a one second lead over Wout van Aert with Primoz Roglic in third at 9s.
The closest real rival is Aleksandr Vlasov at 39s, with Ineos pair Adam Yates and Daniel Martinez waiting for the mountains on Thursday and Saturday to show their hand.
The pace was such that Fabio Jakobsen, who won Monday’s second stage, was far from alone when he was dropped by the peloton led by Jumbo 20 kilometres from the finish.
Mads Pedersen held off Bryan Coquard in the finale with Van Aert coming third.
“It’s my first WorldTour win in a long time and it’s really nice to start out well. This is a good direction for the Classics coming up in a few weeks,” he said.
Wednesday’s stage is a 13.4-kilometre time trial from Domerat to Montlucon culminating in a steep finish.
