France’s Julian Alaphilippe lived up to the hype as he snatched the Tour de France overall leader’s yellow jersey by winning the third stage on Monday.
The world No.1 jumped away from the pack in the Cote de Mutigny, a brutal 900-metre effort at an average gradient of 12.2%, to claim a career third stage win in the race after a 215 kilometres ride from Binche, Belgium.
Deceuninck-Quick Step rider Alaphilippe, one of the pre-stage favourites, hung on for dear life over the remaining 16 kilometres to take the overall lead from Dutchman Mike Teunissen, who dropped out when the Frenchman attacked.
“It’s sinking in slowly,” an emotional Alaphilippe, who won the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification last year, told reporters.
“I knew the finale [uphill finish] suited me but I didn’t think I would be on my own so far from the line. It’s always hard to deliver when you’re the favourite.”
Alaphilippe has had a fantastic season so far, winning the Milan-San Remo ‘Monument’ classic and the Strade Bianche in March, as well as the Fleche Wallonne in April.
Among the general classification contenders, only France’s Thibaut Pinot and Colombian Egan Bernal finished in the first chasing group, 26 seconds behind Alaphilippe.
Defending champion Geraint Thomas ended up 31 seconds off the pace at the end of the lung-busting final uphill stretch.
The split occurred between Bernal and Thomas, who crossed the line in 12th and 13th place, respectively.
Bernal and Thomas co-lead Team Ineos on the Tour after four-time champion Chris Froome was ruled out of the race because of injuries sustained in a horror crash on the Criterium du Dauphine last month.
Overall, Bernal is now sixth, 40 seconds behind Alaphilippe with Britain’s Thomas in seventh, five seconds further back.
Groupama-FDJ’s Pinot, who is slowly emerging as Team Ineos’s main rival, is 12th, 52 seconds off the pace.
Slovakian Peter Sagan finished fifth on the day to take the lead in the points classification as he bids to claim a record-breaking seventh green jersey in Paris on July 28.
Tuesday’s fourth stage is a 213.5-km ride from Reims to Nancy with bunch sprint finish expected.