Tour de France Femmes Stage 3 LIVE – Lorena Wiebes takes first stage win as Marianne Vos moves back into yellow jersey, Vollering crashes

A late crash in the peloton involving Demi Vollering overshadowed Lorena Wiebes' Stage 3 victory as Marianne Vos moved back into the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) were amongst the riders who tumbled to the ground with less than 4km remaining of the race, as yellow jersey Kimberley Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) was also caught up in the bunch.

It looked particularly ominous for Vollering, who had to be assisted to the finishing line by her team-mates, which will heighten concerns for the race following the departures of GC hopefuls Marlen Reusser and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE-ADQ) in the opening stages.

After two days of racing in the region of Brittany, it was a day advertised for the sprinters of the bunch, with a largely straightforward day on the cards during the 163.5km route as Le Court became the first African rider to don the maillot jaune at the race.

After a series of early attacks from the bunch once the flag was dropped to indicate the beginning of racing, the day's breakaway would shortly form, consisting of the quartet of Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), Sara Martin (Movistar), Clemence Latimer (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Catalina Anais Soto (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) with 150km to go of racing.

The breakaway would eventually be caught with 6km to go, as the peloton began a tricky, technical route through the city of Angers, facing numerous roundabouts, narrow roads and rail tracks.

It was there, during a narrowing as the riders crossed the river Maine, which would see Vollering and Balsamo hit the deck, with the yellow jersey Le Court also caught behind, as the peloton was split and a group of 20 escaped unharmed.

FDJ-SUEZ's Marie Le Net would lead the bunch onto the final stretch, with EF Education-Oatly's Noemi Ruegg deciding to go from 450m out and essentially leading out the reduced bunch sprint, with Wiebes opting against the leadout of her teammate and world champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) and opening up her sprint with 200m to go.

Proving to be the fastest woman in the peloton, Wiebes held off Marianne Vos with ease to control the sprint and win by a bike length and pick up her first win of the 2025 edition of the Tour.

Whilst the race will be marred by that crash in the final kilometres, we were given the sprint we were promised as Lorena Wiebes and Marianne Vos went head-to-head for the stage win.

A tricky technical section saw GC favourite Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) amongst the riders to crash in the final kilometres of Stage 3.

Thankfully, the Dutch rider was able to remount her bike and take her time reaching the finish line thanks to the help of her teammates.

After the departures of Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE ADQ) already during this Tour, it was a relief to see her cross the finish line and we'll hopefully see her at the start line tomorrow.

1. Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) 8:19:06

2. Kimberley Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) +6"

3. Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) +12"

4. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) +16"

5. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) +ST"

6. Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) +19"

7. Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) +21"

8. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) +ST"

9. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) +25"

10. Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) +ST"

With a 6" time bonus on the line, Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) will take back the yellow jersey ahead of Stage 4.

1. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) 3:41:47

2. Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) "

3. Ally Wollaston (FDJ-SUEZ) "

4. Megan Jastrab (Picnic PostNL) "

5. Liane Lippert (Movistar) "

6. Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal)

7. Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) "

8. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) "

9. Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly) "

10. Lucinda Brand (Lidl Trek) "

She's just too strong for Marianne Vos, as she times it to perfection.

She doesn't wait for the leadout of Lotte Kopecky's as she decides to go long and opens up her sprint on the final straight and she takes her 108th win of her career.

Ally Wollaston (FDJ-SUEZ) takes third.

Vollering is supported by her teammates as she rides in but at the front of the race, FDJ-Suez's Marie Le Net and EF Education-Oatly's Noemi Ruegg leading out the sprint.

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) is right behind, with Lorena Wiebes on her wheel. Marianne Vos is positioned right behind Wiebes.

There's a massive crash as the peloton crosses over the bridge, as Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) are amongst the riders who go down.

Our yellow jersey Kimberley Le Court is also caught behind that crash but we are inside the 5km safety zone.

We're starting to see the sprint trains emerge but just as it looked all together, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) moves to the front, with Lorena Wiebes on her wheel and the peloton strung out.

The catch is made with just under 6km to go as the peloton begins to navigate through a technical final 5km.

She was unable to follow the moves of her fellow breakaway companions and she sees her day come to an end as she's absorbed by the bunch.

Catalina Anais Soto (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) puts in another dig and manages to get several bike lengths ahead of Jackson and Martin, but the peloton is coming quickly.

As the breakaway's advantage drops to 26", it's Sara Martin (Movistar) who opts to attack with an eye on the combativity award. Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly) and Catalina Anais Soto (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) follow and the advantage grows by a few seconds.

But there's a lot of looking around from the trio, with the peloton within pouncing distance, as Jackson and Martin both put in another dig.

For the first time since 150km to go, the peloton have their first sight of the breakaway quartet of Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), Sara Martin (Movistar), Clemence Latimer (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Catalina Anais Soto (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi).

The gap reduces even further to 36" and we can expect the catch to happen shortly as the peloton readies themselves for today's technical finale.

As the peloton are guided through their next village, the maillot jaune group is almost in single file order as they negotiate narrow countryside roads.

The breakaway has only 54" on the bunch and you can expect the breakaway to be in the sights of the peloton soon, as Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) moves to the front of the group.

The gap between our breakaway quartet has started shrinking considerably over the last couple of kilometres as SD Worx-Protime and Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto control things at the front of the peloton.

We're starting to see the teams organise their trains as they contend with a little more road furniture and narrow roads, as the gap reduces to 1'18".

There's a brief split in the peloton but it looks like it will all come back together.

We didn't get a good look of what happened but it appears there was a touch of wheels at the back of the bunch as the riders allowed room for the motorbikes to get through.

Eugenia Bujak (Cofidis) goes down quite heavily, whilst the likes of Linda Zanetti (Uno-X Mobility), who could fancy her chances in a sprint are held up

SD Worx-Protime and Visma-Lease a Bike are the teams providing the lead out for the intermediate sprint and it's Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx), who gets the jump on Marianne Vos to pick up the 13 points.

Vos picks up 11, with the surprise inclusion of Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) picking up 10 points.

Alison Jackson (EF-Education Oatley) leads the breakaway into the intermediate sprint and our quartet simply rolls across, with the Canadian road race champion taking the full 25 points.

The peloton are not too far from the intermediate sprint and with 13 points up for the fifth placed rider, we can expect some action to happen.