Greig Leach

I, nor the race commentators on NBC, could tell who had won stage three between Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek). However, Merlier was sure it was him as he raised his arms in victory after his lunge to the line. He was right. Behind the two who were separated by the width of a tire, it was Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) taking the third step of the podium in Dunkirk. Just off of the podium were Soren Werenskjold (Uno X-Mobility), Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in turn. It would have been poetic if Groves could have taken the stage given the loss of his team's main sprinter, but it was not to be. Milan will become the new owner of the Maillot Vert vacated by the unlucky Jasper Philipsen.