Race leader Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) sprinted to victory on stage 3 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, outpacing Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) to the line at the end of a crash-hit final in Le Coteau.
The Frenchman came from behind in the dash for the line as the Bora-Hansgrohe train cued up Bennett, who jumped just inside the 200-metre mark. The Irishman moved to the right in the closing metres, opening up space for Laporte to blast through, while behind the pair, third-placed Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) protested at his movement in the sprint.
Just under an hour after the finish, both Bennett and Groenewegen were relegated to the rear of the group for their actions in the sprint. Bennett for moving across the Dutchman, and Groenewegen for barging Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) shortly afterwards.
Laporte's win, his second of the race after his victory on stage 1 in Chambon-sur-Lac, sees him extend his race lead with a 10-second time bonus to go with three seconds he took at the intermediate sprint earlier in the stage.
Bennett had looked all set for his second win of the season, even if he looked to have impeded Groenewegen with his move across the road, but the 32-year-old went just a touch too early, fading at the last as Laporte nipped past to win.
The new final podium for stage 3 sees Laporte take the victory ahead of Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) and Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstny).
Laporte, who has four race wins this season, now leads Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) – who earlier grabbed two bonus seconds behind Laporte before suffering a late puncture and was not a factor in the sprint – in the overall rankings by 11 seconds, while Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) lies in third place at 17 seconds.
"I was looking forward to the sprint. I thought I wasn't fast enough to beat riders like Bennett and Groenewegen, but Groenewegen was blocked on the left and I was able to take the other side. It's unexpected and I'm very happy.
"We were protecting Vingegaard in the final. It wasn't all about the lead-out. I could take the benefits from that work. I was blocked at 500 metres to go and thought I was finished. It just opened up for me and then I was able to finish. It's a good day.
"I like short time trials, but this is a long one. I think it will be very hard for me to hold on to the yellow jersey."
How it unfolded
The third stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné looked set to be one for the sprinters from the very beginning and events early on the 194km run from Monistrol-sur-Loire to Le Coteau didn't change that assumption.
With only two categorised climbs – a second-category early on and a fourth-category hill 20km from the end – on the route, few riders were interested in making the break of the day.
Lorenzo Milesi (Team DSM) and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) were the only men to venture off the front of the peloton shortly after the start of the stage, though the Italian only lasted 17km before giving up and dropping back.
He was caught on the Côte de Bellevue la Montagne (4.9km at 5.8%) as Burgaudeau pushed on alone. Five points for him at the top saw him jump to third in the mountain classification, while further back a group of 15 or so tried and failed to go clear.
The lone leader enjoyed a six-minute advantage on the peloton at one point, but with little chance of staying away for the win alone, Burgaudeau soon slowed up. He continued on alone until the 120km to go marker before he too was reabsorbed.
No riders were keen to counter from the peloton, leaving a very dull final three hours in prospect. The procession to the finish was briefly interrupted by a protest on the route just over 100km out. The race was briefly neutralised as riders made their way past the demonstration before getting going again shortly afterwards.
Sprint squads Jayco-AlUla (Dylan Groenewegen) and Bora-Hansgrohe (Sam Bennett) took up the pacemaking at the front of the peloton along with Ineos Grenadiers, though there was hardly a rush to the finish with no breakaway to catch.
At the 55km mark, Soudal-QuickStep launched off the front to lead out Julian Alaphilippe at the intermediate sprint, but race leader Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) burst through to grab three bonus seconds and extend his lead over fellow Frenchman to a single second.
There was more bad news for Alaphilippe 7km later as he was caught up in a crash in the middle of the peloton. Several Team DSM and Alpecin-Deceuninck riders also hit the deck, though Astana Qazaqstan rider Andrey Zeits would be the only man forced to abandon as a result.
The pace – already 20 minutes behind the slowest time schedule – slowed again as a result of the pileup while Alaphilippe and others made their way back to the peloton.
Numerous riders would be held up later on at a pinch point 24km from the line partway up the climb of the Côte de Pinay (7.5km at 3%). All riders were back together at the top, however, setting up a mass sprint finish.
There'd be yet more drama for Alaphilippe before the finish, though, with the former world champion stopping for a bike change 7km out. He'd make it back 3km later as the peloton sped along towards the line.
Two crashes inside the final 3km – at 1.5km to go and then 500 metres later – saw multiple riders held up in the finale, but the sprinters passed through untroubled. Bora-Hansgrohe set up the lead-out for their man, but in the end, it was Laporte who weaved his way through to find clear air and shoot past Groenewegen and Bennett to grab the win.
