Warre Vangheluwe wins stage 3 of 4 Jours de Dunkerque from breakaway but needs photo-finish against Sam Bennett's sprint

The finale of the third stage of 4 Jours de Dunkerque was just about one of the most dramatic of the entire year. Warre Vangheluwe won from the breakaway, but the photo-finish was required as the Soudal - Quick-Step rider was caught mid-sprint and his victory was only confirmed in the photo-finish. 

The breakaway of the day was formed with six riders jumping up the road. Alexis Gougeard, Samuel Leroux, Axel Narbonne Zuccarelli, Szymon Sajnok, Warre Vangheluwe and Tomas Kopecky. The breakaway carried slight chances as the riders passed through several cobbled sectors on the day.

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These would see intense fights for positioning in the peloton which would cut the gap, but afterwards there would be some chaos and a few sprinters that didn't have their day. This led the peloton to have a few lulls which where used by the front riders to keep their gap. Not a simple situation for the peloton where Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale took a lot of the responsibility due to double-stage winner and race leader Sam Bennett.

The five-lap circuit featured three cobbled sectors and could be an important day for the overall classification under the right circumstances. In the final 30 kilometers a few attacks started to come off the front of the peloton, but the pace never slowed down as there were no climbs and the breakaway still maintained a lead that allowed them to dream.

Into the final 10 kilometers Gougeard, Vangheluwe, Leroux and Kopecky survived with almost 30 seconds of lead. In the final cobbled sector with 9 kilometers to go Kopecky made a move off the front but was ultimately caught. The quartet remained untied until 1.5 kilometers to go when Alexis Gougeard attacked, koined by Vangheluwe shortly after. The Belgian began his sprint early on to try and avoid the peloton.

What followed was an almost unbelievable sight. Vangheluwe celebrated but it looked like he had lost the victory on the line to Sam Bennett who also celebrated. However after seeing the photo-finish, the Belgian was crowned the victory: whilst Corbin Strong finished third on the day.

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