Winners
Simon Gerrans
With everyone expecting a Sagan win, Gerrans pulled off a major coup to pip the Slovakian in a photo finish. Gerrans’ sprint was absolutely perfect. With Cannondale on the front, Gerrans was led through the smallest of gaps against the barriers by Daryl Impey, forcing Sagan to jump onto the coattails of the two Orica-Greenedge riders. The Australian then slipped slightly back away from the wheel of his South African teammate, allowing himself to accelerate out of his slipstream, giving Gerrans a slight gap over Sagan which he could just hang on to.
Pierre Rolland
Last night the Frenchman told reporters that he wasn’t interested in defending his polka dot jersey, but this wasn’t apparent today. Europcar put Cyril Gautier in the break, but he was unable to prevent Simon Clarke picking up points throughout the day. With Clarke still up the road on the final climb, Rolland attacked along with Davide Malacarne, reeling in the Australian and taking the points on the Col de Marsolino. The Frenchman now takes a five point lead to the mainland, a lead that he might be able to hold into the Pyrenees.
Peter Sagan
The stage win may have evaded the Slovak, but he did manage to pick up a vital 25 points at the finish, enough to put him in the green jersey for the flight to Nice. This puts him 17 points ahead of second place Marcel Kittel, and a whopping 49 points ahead of Mark Cavendish. Of course this deficit could be made up in one stage, and the competition is far from over, but it is definitely advantage Sagan after stage 3.
Losers
Sylvain Chavanel
After letting Jan Bakelants get away yesterday, the French time trial champion was again on the attack today. Pushing on on the final descent into Calvi, Chavanel quickly caught Rolland, Nieve, and Nordhaug, and was then the main engine driving on the quartet on the run in. Although the move was shut down by the combined forces of Radioshack, Cannondale and Orica-Greenedge, Chavanel’s obvious form will be encouraging for Omega Pharma-Quickstep ahead of the team time trial tomorrow.
Thomas De Gendt
After losing seventeen minutes yesterday, it’s obvious that the Dutchman has not come to the Tour in great form. However the best way to rectify this would be to ride an attacking race and use the first week to find some decent shape. Instead, on a stage which might have been suited to a more in-form De Gendt, we saw the Vacansoleil quietly slipping off the back of the peloton and losing another six minutes. Perhaps later in the Tour, once the GC has taken shape, we can see the attacking racing which has won De Gendt so many fans.
Tomorrow’s Stage
Another stage which conforms to the mantra that you can’t win the Tour in the first week, but you can certainly lose it. Organisation shouldn’t be too much of an issue as the route is fairly simple, basically following an out and back course along the sea front, although the first kilometre includes a few tight corners and street furniture which could disrupt any predetermined order of riders.
Much more a test of the combined time trial ability of team members than the teams’ organisation, I expect this stage to be won by a team of big powerful riders.
Scenario
The result of this stage could well rest on the fitness of Tony Martin. If he is fit, and he managed to finish in the front group today, then I really can’t see passed Omega-Pharma Quickstep. Powerful riders such as Martin, Chavanel, and Terpstra are perfect for this course. Other teams to watch will be Orica-Greenedge, Garmin-Sharp, Sky, and Movistar. Unfortunately for Jan Bakelants I really can’t see Radioshack having the firepower to keep the yellow jersey.
Stage Win: Omega-Pharma Quickstep
Yellow Jersey: Michal Kwiatkowski.
Student Cyclist 