Jasper Philipsen has taken the win on stage 3 of the 2023 Tour de France in the first bunch sprint finish seen at this year's edition of the race.
The opening weekend of the Tour de France has seen quite a lot of spectacle, but as the race finally calms down, stage 3 will be the first day where the sprinters can fight for the win, as the race enters France.
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Just two riders in the breakaway of the day today, with most saving their legs for a day where the peloton isn't as keen on taking the stage win. Laurent Pichon (Team Arkéa Samsic) and the King of the Mountains, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) were the men up front.
Powless took the maximum points on both of the first two climbs unchallenged. As the peloton approached the intermediate sprint, the new Green Jersey and stage 2 winner Victor Lafay attacked clear of the bunch to try and catch the pure sprinters out.
It was Powless again who took the points at the next two climbs, giving it large to the adoring crowd as he crossed the line each time.
With just over 81km to go though, Powless decided to save his legs and wait up for the peloton leaving only Pichon up front.
As the race headed into France, Pichon's advantage at the head of the race had dropped to just 1:20.
With 44km to go, Pichon was swallowed up by the peloton and the attention began to turn towards the sprint finish.
The battle for position at the front was incredibly fierce. Almost all of the world's top sprinters are here this year and they all wanted to be best positioned.
In a technical finale full of roundabouts, the peloton became incredibly stretched out. All the general classification riders safely came through the 3km to go banner.
Into the final kilometre and it was mayhem at the front of the peloton. Mathieu van der Poel was doing a brilliant lead out for Jasper Philipsen.
When the Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter fired there was no stopping him as he powered his way to victory. Phil Bauhaus was a narrow second with Caleb Ewan coming home third.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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🥇Win for @JasperPhilipsen in Bayonne! 🥇Victoire de @JasperPhilipsen à Bayonne ! #TDF2023
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