Overview

• Mathieu van der Poel outsprinted Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to win the rain-soaked 209.1 km stage from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer.
• He moved into the yellow jersey with a four-second advantage over Pogacar and six seconds over Vingegaard in the general classification.
• Around 30 riders broke away in the final 2 km to form the leading group that contested the sprint finish.
• Team Cofidis recovered all 11 bikes stolen overnight before stage 2 and is reviewing security measures after the incident.
• Stage 3’s 178.3 km flat route to Dunkirk is forecast to be windy, with crosswinds likely to split the peloton and shape the sprint outcome.