Results Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Stage 3 - Visma overcome Van Aert and Tulett setbacks to win TTT as Alex Baudin keeps yellow

Team Visma | Lease a Bike turned a disrupted stage 3 team time trial into victory at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, winning in Perreux despite losing Wout van Aert early and seeing Ben Tulett suffer a badly timed puncture.

The 28.4-kilometre test delivered the first major GC shake-up of the week after two breakaway stages had opened the race.

Alex Baudin began the day in yellow for EF Education - EasyPost, but Visma, Netcompany INEOS and Lidl-Trek all put the Frenchman under pressure on a day where mechanicals, handling and team depth all mattered.

Visma came out on top. Matteo Jorgenson led the team home ahead of Jorgen Nordhagen, with the squad stopping the clock in 32:52.17 at an average speed of 51.805kph. It was the fastest ride of the day and moved Jorgenson closer in the general classification, even if Baudin’s late EF ride kept yellow just out of reach.

Visma’s victory was not a clean procession. Van Aert was distanced before the eight-kilometre mark, continuing a difficult start to the race for the Belgian after his recent return to competition.

Tulett then suffered a puncture at a damaging moment in the effort. The Briton had started the day fifth overall, only 32 seconds behind Baudin, so the timing of the problem carried obvious GC significance as well as threatening Visma’s stage challenge.

Even with those setbacks, Visma produced the day’s strongest time. Their ride put immediate pressure on EF, with Baudin needing his team to limit the damage enough to preserve the yellow jersey.

Netcompany INEOS finished second, 9.61 seconds slower than Visma, after their own ride had also been disrupted. Sam Watson was forced into a bike change, taking one of their biggest engines out of the line, before Oscar Onley suffered a chain issue later in the effort.

The team waited for Onley and still delivered a major GC ride. Kevin Vauquelin led INEOS home in 33:01.78, briefly putting himself into position to threaten Baudin’s race lead.

That became the key yellow jersey calculation once EF started their final effort. Baudin had begun the day 32 seconds ahead of Vauquelin, meaning EF needed to finish within that margin of INEOS to keep yellow.

Lidl-Trek had earlier made the first serious GC move of the day through Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose, clocking 33:24.58. Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe also rode strongly, while Decathlon CMA CGM Team limited some of the damage through Paul Seixas despite the Frenchman suffering a rear-wheel slip in a treacherous corner.

EF Education - EasyPost started last and did just enough. Baudin’s team finished third on the stage in 33:21.58, 29.41 seconds slower than Visma and 19.80 seconds behind INEOS. That kept Baudin in yellow by just over 12 seconds from Vauquelin, ending a tense finale to the first major GC test of the race.

UAE Team Emirates - XRG lost more ground to the strongest squads, with Isaac del Toro leading them home on the uphill drag to the line. Their effort left them well behind Visma, INEOS and the other key GC teams on a day that tightened the overall battle.

Visma took the stage after a ride that could have unravelled more than once. INEOS came close to turning mechanical drama into yellow. EF, under pressure as the final team on the road, kept Baudin in the race lead by a narrowing margin.