Stage 3: Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne – 185 km
Date: Monday July 3, 2023
Stage type: Flat
What to watch for: Potential echelons along the coast.
Stage summary: A couple early and relatively easy climbs shouldn’t spoil the day for sprinters, but the run-in to Bayonne isn’t exactly straightforward so a break may think it stands a small chance of pulling one over on the peloton. They’ll certainly try. Plus much of the route runs along the coast, making crosswinds and echelons a possibility.
Still, a sprint is most likely for the stage that takes the race back to France. You can see our complete stage-by-stage guide here.
Dane Cash’s pick: Until I see otherwise, I’m expecting Jasper Philipsen and Fabio Jakobsen to contest all of the Tour de France sprint stages as the clear favorites. I like Philipsen slightly better for stage 3, as I think he may be a bit fresher at the end of a third day of racing on Basque roads, but it’s close. Dylan Groenewegen, Wout van Aert, Caleb Ewan, Mads Pedersen, Mark Cavendish, and Biniam Girmay are the other big names worth watching.
What did you think of this story?