Warren Barguil climbed to 17th as Tom Dumoulin crashed out of Le Tour de France after a crash at high speed. He dislocated his shoulder and went to the hospital for a check. Joaqium Rodriguez won stage 3 and Christopher Froome is the new overall leader.
Stage 3 of Le Tour de France was a reduced version of La Fleche Wallonne and started in Antwerp to finish 159.5km further on the famous Mur de Huy.
The first points for the polka dot jersey were to be collected with four registered climbs in the finale. Four riders formed the early break of the day and enjoyed a maximum advantage of 3’30”.
With 60km to the finish, a big crash took place in the bunch and took down a lot of riders, including Tom Dumoulin and Ramon Sinkeldam. Unfortunately, Tom Dumoulin was unable to continue the race and had to abandon Le Tour de France. He dislocated his shoulder and went to the hospital for a check. Ramon [inkeldam was able to finish the stage, details about his injuries to follow.
In the meantime the race was neutralized until all crashed riders were back in the bunch. After the race continued the finale was in full progress, as they moved to the Mur de Huy. On the steep climb Joaqium Rodriguez (Team Katusha) was the strongest of the punchers, Warren Barguil climbed to a strong 17th.
With a second place today, Christopher Froome (Team Sky) took over the lead in the general classification.
After the race Tom Dumoulin said: “I remember everything that happened in the crash. A rider in front of me went down and I tried to pass him on the right side, but I was hit by one of the riders next to me and crashed headfirst. I slid into the grass and dislocated my shoulder, which they immediately put it back into position but my Tour is over.”
Warren Barguil reflected: “I am not totally happy with today. When I heard about Tom [Dumoulin], I really felt sad. It was a great opportunity for him to take the yellow jersey and losing him is really a setback.
“It was nervous and I had a good position on the foot of the Côte de d’Errefe. The team really helped me well to the front, which was perfect. On the final climb on the Mur de Huy I was not strong enough to make it in the top-10, but I am satisfied with the result.”
Coach Marc Reef added: “It was extremely hectic today with a lot of stress in the bunch from the start. A big compliment to the guys, who directly moved on despite the loss of Tom [Dumoulin], not knowing his status.
“After the crash, they went on positioning themselves in the front and worked for the intermediate sprint for John [Degenkolb] and in the finale for Warren [Barguil]. Warren [Barguil] performed well and got a nice stage result with a 17th in a difficult finale.
“Ramon [Sinkeldam] is doing relatively well after crashing at high speed. He has to survive tomorrow, which will be a big challenge because his body will feel stiff. He has wounds on his body and stitches in his arm.”
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