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

Well, I said the view from the top of this climb would be nice - but I'm wrong: right after the summit comes a tunnel. What's more, the peak is covered in trees. In any case, it's Neilson Powless who darts clear of Pichon to take the maximum two points over the summit. So the American is up to 13pts in the KOM standings, which is 6pts clear of his nearest challenger Tadej Pogacar. The peloton goes over around 2'10" down.

We're onto the first climb of the day with the two leaders nursing a lead of 1'40". It's a 4.2km ascent with an average gradient of 5.7%. It's not the most breathtaking of climbs, playing out as it does on a straight, wide main road. But the view from the top should be nice and the gap seems to be edging out a little for the duo.

Big shame we don't have more riders in the breakaway - although there's still time for a second bite of the breakaway cherry, surely?

The Arkea-Samsic rider who joined Powless off the front at the start is Frenchman Laurent Pichon. They would have preferred more bodies coming across - although Powless won't mind so much if it means he can take maximum points on the Cote de Trabakua. The gap is 1'30" for now but we can't rule out come counter moves on the climb, which is coming up imminently.

It was the worst of possible starts for EF Education-EasyPost with their leader Richard Carapaz crashing out with a fractured kneecap. But Neilson Powless gave the team a much-needed boost by taking maximum points over the final climb of the day to secure the polka dot jersey. The American was in the break yesterday to extend that lead - and is on the move again today.

There are a maximum 7pts up for grabs today in the KOM battle. This is the current top 5 in the polka dot standings:

1. Neilson Powless 11pts
2. Tadej Pogacar +7pts
3. Jonas Vingegaard 4pts
4. Pascal Eenkhoorn 3pts
5. Georg Zimmerman 3pts.

It's the man in polka dots who makes the first move, dancing clear from the outset with the yellow flag still being waved by Christian Prudhomme through the sunroof of his trusty Skoda. It's not a surprise to see the American Neilson Powless set out his stall early: he's out to protect his lead in the KOM competition. Only one reaction and it's a rider from Arkea-Samsic.

Have you calmed down from your frustration at the finish yesterday? asks our man Matt Stephens - referring to the Belgian's anger after coming second, when he violently threw his bidon to the ground.

"Yeah, of course," Van Aert laughs. "I think - at least for me - a normal reaction because I was angry with the disappointment. If you come so close. We all went 100% so it's a pity that it didn't work out. As you know, we do so many races in the year and quite a few you don't win, so we also have experience in handling this.

"What happens in the bus is most important. We haven't won yet but we've showed that Jumbo-Visma is one of the strongest teams in the bunch. That's what you take away. Today is not easy, could be hard at the beginning, but hopefully I'll have the legs and we can show it."

The remaining 174 riders are rolling through the start town of Amorebieta-Etxano as they make their way towards Kilometre Zero. It's not the prettiest of locations, to be fair - all brick and concrete high rises and confusing road furniture - but that's the Basque Country for you: lovely scenery, but shame about the buildings and modern architecture. The views should be stunning later on today, though, so don't fret.

Reminder of the two riders who crashed out during/after Stage 1: Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Two big GC favourites whose departures will change the way their teams tackle this Tour, for sure.

Please do feel free to send your predictions for today's stage to felixlowe@gmail.com or @Saddleblaze on Twitter. Or perhaps you have some thoughts on who is going to end up in yellow in Paris? Another talking point is the seemingly on-going power struggle at Jumbo-Visma, with Wout van Aert clearly very unhappy with his second place yesterday after team leader Jonas Vingegaard did not chip in and help reel in Victor Lafay yesterday. There are bound to be some lulls today so I will publish the most interesting or pertinent points...

That's because we have four lower-category climbs on the 193.5km road to Bayonne. A strong breakaway is bound to go early on and it will be a fight to get them back ahead of the finale, which is peppered with small lumps and bumps which could benefit a counter attack, or even distance some of the purer fastmen like Cavendish.

It's also worth remembering that sprinters like Cav - especially this deep into his career - take a bit of time to warm up in a Grand Tour. Today may be too early for the Manxman, but it will be perfect for his rivals Philipsen, Jakobsen, Groenewegen, Ewan, Pedersen, Girmay...

It's worth stressing that the general classification already looks like the kind of top 10 you could have deep into a Grand Tour - which goes to show just how hard the opening weekend was since the Bilbao grand depart.

1. Adam Yates
2. Tadej Pogacar +6
3. Simon Yates +6
4. Victor Lafay +12
5. Wout van Aert +16
6. Jonas Vingegaard +17
7. Michael Woods +22
8. Jai Hindley +22
9. Mikel Landa +22
10. Carlos Rodriguez +22

The big story yesterday was Frenchman Victor Lafay delivering his Cofidis team their first stage in on the Tour in 15 years. Already in solid form on Saturday's opening stage - where he was the only rider who stuck with Pogacar and Vingegaard on the final climb - Lafay took a long one with 1km to go yesterday and upset the likes of Wout van Aert, who didn't have enough in the tank to reel in the Frenchman on the home straight.

A Yates brother one-two in the opening stage saw Adam pip his twin Simon to take a maiden win on the Tour and, with it, the first yellow jersey of the race. Team UAE Emirates will be hoping that the Briton is just keeping it warm for team-mate Tadej Pogacar, who has been in rip-roaring form since the start and - through bonus seconds - already has an 11-second lead on his big rival, Jonas Vingegaard.

Bonjour le Tour! Hello and welcome to live coverage of Stage 3 of the 110th edition of the Tour de France, as the race bids farewell to the Basque Country and crosses the border into France ahead of what could be the first bunch sprint so far. If British veteran Mark Cavendish keeps in touch over the rolling coastal roads, the 38-year-old will have his first crack at what would be a historic 35th Tour stage win - although he will face stiff competition from the likes of Jasper Philipsen, Fabio Jakobsen, Wout van Aert, Caleb Ewan et al.