Tour de France 2023 Stage 3 recap: Jasper Philipsen wins tense sprint in Bayonne

The Belgian emerged from the jury HQ with a smile on his face so he must have convinced the powers that be that he did not deviate intentionally there. So, first blood for Philipsen, who takes the third Tour stage win of his career, and with it draws level with Victor Lafay on 80pts in the battle for green.

Confusion reigns on the Tour with the race jury still debating the finish. Jasper Philipsen doesn't look so happy so perhaps the news isn't good for the Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck, who has now been called out of the winner's enclosure and into the jury's HQ.

The Dutchman brought his man to the front and lead him out to a tee there - peeling off just at the right moment as Philipsen launched to the line.

But there was a controversial moment before when Jonas Rickaert clipped Kasper Asgreen as he came past after the flamme rouge. Amazingly, neither rider went down - but it could have been turmoil. There was also the small matter of the apparent deviation from Philipsen - and it looks like the jury is still looking at that one...

It looked like Wout van Aert eased up there when he felt Philipsen was boxing him out by the barriers - but the road did come around to the right and the Belgian stage winner did stick to his line. More of a cautionary easing up there from Van Aert than anything else. Encouraging signs from Cavendish, who took sixth.

1. Jasper Philipsen
2. Phil Bauhaus
3. Caleb Ewan
4. Fabio Jakobsen
5. Wout van Aert
6. Mark Cavendish
7. Jordi Meeus
8. Dylan Groenewegen
9. Mads Pedersen
10. Bryan Coquard

It's textbook stuff from Alpecin-Deceunick there who breaks Van Aert and then holds off Bauhaus and Ewan for the win.

Almost a touch of wheels and crash there as Alpecin come to the front after a Soudal rider went clear ahead of the flamme rouge...

But Jumbo are also near the front for the big U-turn roundabout - and now the battle is well and truly on. With DSM and Intermarche right in the mix. "It's mayhem!" says Carlton Kirby.

Yves Lampaert bullies everyone else and takes the line going into another roundabout with his Soudal train behind. He will have won no friends doing that - but he won't mind.

One rider from Ineos has now come to the front but he's only leading out the Soudal train. You can cut the tension with a disc brake. Uno-X are there for Kristoff and Arkea-Samsic are also in the mix, which is odd.

The front is still stacked with the GC teams and Astana-Qazaqstan are quite far back with their man Cavendish. Lotto Dstny come to the front again through another roundabout - and it's a battle of Belgium as they come alongside rivals QuickStep. Alpecin and DSM are readying themselves, with Bora and Jumbo in the middle and Ineos now right back, ditto Lidl-Trek.

So far, so good. No one has come down and everyone is riding in team formation. But you sense that someone is about to throw a grenade. There are just so many top tier sprinters who all want a bite of the apple in Bayonne. Soudal-QuickStep have taken it up.

The peloton keeps on slimming down after going through these touch logistical challenges - and then regrouping in team formations afterwards. The back of the pack, meanwhile, is all strung out as riders battle to stay in touch. The road is still going up and down - really tricky terrain ahead of this finish. American Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) has been rooted to the back of this peloton for the last hour or so.

Vingegaard is with Van Baarle while Van Aert rides with his lead-out Laporte, which is interesting. But things just got harder for Caleb Ewan, who has lost his Lotto lead-out man Jasper De Buysst, who has been tailed off either with a mechanical or fatigue - it looks like the latter.

Phil Bauhaus must be feeling confident because his team-mates have been taking centre stage. We're also beginning to see some of the yellow shoulders of Intermarche-Circus-Wanty, who will hope to deliver Biniam Girmay to a maiden Tour win - although the finish is probably not hard enough for the Eritrean dubutant.

There are six roundabouts in the last four-odd kilometres today with a massive U-turn with just 2km remaining - a potentially key moment in the lead-out. Soudal-QuickStep are alongside Ineos and Jumbo now on the front. We're onto some lumpy roads that will sap the energy and pound the legs ahead of the sprint at Bayonne.

It's not just the teams of the sprinters getting into the washing machine on the front. Ineos Grenadiers are heavily present as are Groupama-FDJ - and neither of them really have a sprinter for these kinds of finishes. Lotto Dstny, meanwhile, are right there along with Bora-Hansgrohe, Uno-X and Jumbo-Visma.

According to Eurosport's Predictor, Jasper Philipsen has been back by four of the panel of five, with only Jacky Durand going for another sprinter - Mads Pedersen. Let's see. Already things are very stressful and there are numerous splits in the peloton owing to a succession of tight corners and roundabouts - and we're still 30km from the finish.

Laurent Pichon has been caught and tension runs high in the pack as the wind direction changes and the jostling for positions begins in earnest. We've past through St Jean de Luz and are en route to Biarritz.