A breakaway of two almost stole the win, but in the end the stage came back together just in time for Lotte Kopecky to sprint to victory ahead of her own SD Worx-Protime teammate Anna van der Breggen and Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco). With the win and the bonus seconds, Kopecky also took over the red leader's jersey from FDJ United-Suez's Franziska Koch, who finished fifth.
The sprint.
Koch dropped to second overall, six seconds behind Kopecky, with EF Education-Oatly's Cédrine Kerbaol still in third, 12 seconds behind. Van der Breggen was able to move up to fourth overall. She gained a few crucial seconds on key GC rivals Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto).
Brief stage results
[race_result id=9058 stage_id=90151 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]
GC after stage 3
[race_result id=9058 stage_id=90151 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]
How it happened
- After only 17 km of racing, and one failed breakaway attempt, two riders successfully separated from the peloton: Annelies Nijssen of Lotto-Intermarché and Marine Allione of Mayenne-Monbana-My Pie. They were soon joined by Lauretta Hanson from Lidl-Trek and Marta Jaskulska from Human Powered Health. The four built up an advatage of over three minutes at one point, with Koch's FDJ United-Suez team controlling the speed of the peloton.
- As the breakaway approached the second of two categorised climbs, Alto do Hospital, with 32 km to go, the advantage for the four leaders had dropped to 2:30.
The breakaway just before the crest of the Alto do Hospital.
- With 13 km to go, Jaskulska attacked the break, dropping Nijssen and Allione so only the Polish rider and Hanson were left out front. By the final 10 km, the two held only 1:10 over a now full-gas chasing peloton. SD Worx-Protime was the most obvious team keen on bringing back the escapees.
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