Small breakaway today, this time without FDJ rider.. with 90kms to go, they see their gap droping to 5´49" with Giant team making the pace in peloton..

When they reach the 2nd Int. sprint, the gap is down to 4´28"... 70kms..

Nothing much happened and the break was caught in time for a mass sprint finish.. A.Demare follows M.Kittel´s wheel..

With about 500meters to the line, A.Demare decides to kick it before Kittel..

Not being easy for Demare to overtake the German duo..

M.Kittel wins, A.Demare must be happy with 3rd place..

No changes in GC..

Stage 3 is some kind of surprise package.. it´s classified as flat but those climbs at the end might change things a little..

It´s a long stage but we want to be at the front when the last climbs come, so F.Mourey went with the break.. unfortunally for us, he didn´t felt well during the break.. ( -3 ).. D.Villela(CAN), M.Tjallingii(BEL) and M.Belkov(KAT) are the others..

They reach the 1st kom sprint with Mourey taking the points.. at the descent, J.Vandenbroeck(LTB) falls down and looses any chances to win GC ..

After the 2nd kom sprint, Villela and Belkov drop the other 2..

It´s a nasty blow for Garmin who has to bring all to the back after T.Danielson and R.Denis got involved in a fall..

With the fast speed that the peloton was riding, the break is caught before the finish line.. with R.Ferrari(LAM) following M.Kittel(GIA), A.Demare chooses to stick behind the italian..

Giant sprinters dominate... the others miss the speed..

Another double for Giant..

T.Martin keeps his yellow.. no major changes in GC..

F.Mourey, A.De Marchi(CAN), B.De Clercq(LTB) and E.Capecchi(MOV) form the breakaway today..

The breakaway is about to start the 1st climb.. 6´00"gap.

The fight for kom points got started..

After this kom sprint, T.Pinot and A.Geniez manage to get away from the pack..

It was going good for our riders but this long descent was enought for the peloton to come back.. this made the others in the break to get caught too..

2nd climb, Pinot tries to get once again involved in more attempts to get away from the pack..

After the 2nd kom sprint, A.Valverde(MOV) leads, followed by M.Kwiatkowski(OPQ)..

5kms to go, our pace in the pack was enought to catch up with both riders..

Last km.. we reach this point with P.Fédrigo, A.Demare (impressive how he managed to get over the climbs) and J.Roy.. R.Costa(LAM), Kwiatkowski, Valverde and Voeckler are here too..

On paper, Demare is the best sprinter but he´s tired now while Kwiatkowski doesn´t seem to be affected by his late efforts..

M.Kwiatkowski wins.. we get 3 inside top10.

T.Danielson(GRS), F.Mourey and
M.Tosatto(TCS) escape from the pack.. behind them, more riders try to make the jump too..

.. but they don´t get far as the peloton catch them before the 1st kom sprint... Mourey keeps his steady pace at the front..

E.Vorganov(KAT) takes advantage for the 1st kom sprint, Mourey tries to stick with him..

Still before the top, 4 riders attack.. M.Frank(IAM),
J.Voigt(TFR), D.Villella(CAN) and B.De Clercq(LTB)...

As they reach the 1st Int. Sprint, only De Clercq and Voigt stay escaped, they will catch up with the front duo..

2nd climb,... with Mourey at the front not feeling good(-2) and being with +1´15" in GC, T.Pinot takes the lead in the pack, protected by A.Geniez and starts to push hard..

The peloton decides to let them go with 6kms to the top.. Mourey´s group is 2´04" ahead.

Like we predicted, Mourey can´t keep with the group..

Mourey waits for Pinot and Geniez.. they have a nice gap to the peloton now.. 4´19"..

Geniez and Mourey managed to bring Pinot close enought to catch the front group with 3,5kms to 3rd kom sprint but both riders are done..

Mourey(here) and Geniez are empty, they made a great job... 5´49"gap to peloton..

2nd Int. Sprint.. the gap to the peloton is droping.. now at 3´56".. Geniez has been fighting all the way to catch up with the front but the pace from the brea is too much for him.. 47kms to go..

Last kom sprint.. little fight for the points.

With 31kms to go, Geniez is about to get caught.. 2´48"gap to Pinot´s group..

15kms.. it´s a pleasure to watch this guy racing...
J.Voigt drops his break mates..

T.Pinot´s group is caught with almost 10kms to ride.. Voigt isn´t far, only 48"sec away..

With 5kms to go, Voigt is caught.. Giant riders take the lead..

Final sprint is on..

A.Demare, just like the other sprinters, chose
M.Kittel´s wheel and forgot about J.Degenkolb..

The fake lead out from Degenkolb allows him to take advantage to the rest..

.. and sprints for another stage win for Giant.
A.Demare is 6th..