Christophe Laporte has won stage 3 of the Criterium du Dauphiné, as he beat Sam Bennett and Dylan Groenewegen in the only pure sprint the race had to offer.
The hilly start to the race didn't materialize in a strong breakaway, there weren't many moves early in the day which saw only Mathieu Burgaudeau going up the road for TotalEnergies, a move which wasn't long-lived since no-one managed to join the Frenchman.
With around 80 kilometers to go Burgaudeau was caught by the peloton as he let the pace off, and from there on it was a mostly calm day in the peloton. A crash with 45 kilometers to go disrupted the calm but there weren't big consequences from it.
From there on a big leadout was executed. All the way up the final climb and kilometers there weren't attacks or any team pushing the pace, instead the GC and sprinter teams tried to keep their men towards the front at all times. With 1.6 kilometers to go a second mass crash hit the peloton.
Another crash in the final kilometer took a few more riders down as Soudal - Quick-Step led out the sprint. Bora and Danny van Poppel took over the front in the final meters launching Sam Bennett perfectly for the sprint, however in the final few meters Christophe Laporte moved through the left side and took a strong victory.
This was the yellow jersey's second win of the race, with Sam Bennett and Dylan Groenewegen finishing second and third. However, following the stage's end, organizers have decided to relegate the duo, with Matteo Trentin and Milan Menten finishing second and third on the day.
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