Three days, three stages and the le maillot jaune has landed on three different shoulders.  The 2015 Tour de France has been no kinder than its predecessors.  Stage three started as a day for the punchy climbers after the previous stage had been reserved for the sprinters.  Finishing at the top of the Mur d’Huy, the day’s scenario unfolded worthy of the greatest dramas. 

At the heights of the fortified city, Joachim Rodriguez (Katusha) won a tough slog having left behind Christopher Froome, in person.  The professional on the Sky Team nevertheless took the opportunity to seize the precious jersey after successfully distancing Quintana, Contador, and Nibali. 

On its side, IAM Cycling ended the day bruised but unbowed after enduring the dramatic crash that took down a large portion of the peloton with 40 kilometers to go to the finish.  Mathias Frank, Matthias Brändle, and Sylvain Chavanel ended up on the pavement before being able to rejoin the pack thanks to the fact that the organizers neutralized the race. Frank suffered some wounds to his right elbow and in the end was not able to follow the best up the final two climbs, conceding 1’59” to the winner at the line.

Martin Elmiger was a member of the day’s main break that took off the moment the race flag was dropped.  He commented on his hot day with his customary frankness:

“I tried to get into the right break.  During the morning briefing, we discussed the possibility of taking the polka dot jersey.  We started out well and had nearly four minutes on the peloton pretty quickly.  Unfortunately, the teams of the favorites took part in the chase, and we were not given enough time to fight for the points on the climb.

"The peloton overtook us just as we suffered that terrible crash.  I did not see it firsthand, but the decision to stop the race was in my opinion justified given the number of riders who fell.  But the nervousness in the bunch is such that many riders do not respect anything in the peloton.”

Rik Verbrugghe, manager sportif accompanied by Eddy Seigneur and Mario Chiesa, gave his assessment after the loss of time at the finish. 

"“We are always ready to carry out an attack and be on the offense in a race, but we once again were not spared our bad luck.  Today we were represented in the break with Martin Elmiger, but subsequently, we paid a heavy price in the race with this crash. 

"So I hope we be better at avoiding all the traps that the cobblestones will set tomorrow.  But it is always true that a rider may not know what is the best way to get through a day when facing such a dangerous stage.”