The third stage brought the riders from Collonges-la-Rouge to Montignac-Lascaux. The first part of the stage was hilly, followed flatter second part.
In the first part of the race one rider tried her luck. She took a nice advantage, but was caught with 80 kilometres to go. Some new attempts followed, but it lasted 20 kilometres before another rider got clear. Julie van de Velde took a two minute lead, but that gap got smaller once the peloton started the chase.
With 5 kilometres the gap was still 30 seconds however and the peloton had dig deep to reel the lonely escapee in. In the final kilometre Van de Velde was caught, which gave Lorena Wiebes the chance to sprint to the stage win. Unfortunately Rachele Barbieri wasn`t in the position to sprint today. The team made sure Mavi Garcia crossed the line safely in the bunch.
“We didn`t know what to expect from this stage. It could be one for the GC riders or a sprint. We would go for the sprint with who felt best, but the main goal was to keep Mavi safe. So at the end of the day we can be satisfied with this day”, Caroline Andersson commented after the stage. “It is my first Tour de France Femmes. It is really special with so much people alongside the road. The stages are hard, but there are also nice terrains. You can`t compare it to any other race, maybe the Worlds is the race which comes closest. Tomorrow the stage profile looks the same as today, so we have to wait and see how the day will evolve.”