Belgian Tim Merlier pipped Italian Jonathan Milan right at the line to win Stage 3 of the Tour de France 2025 at Dunkirk on Monday, as Mathieu van der Poel retained the race lead.

The stage was marred by a series of falls, but the two favorites for the title, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished safely in the main pack and remain in second and third place overall behind Van der Poel.

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The flat 179-kilometer run from Valenciennes along the Belgian border was marked above all by a nasty fall that caused Jasper Philipsen to quit with severe grazing and a suspected fracture.

The fall ripped the green best sprinter's jersey from Philipsen's back two days after he won the opening-day sprint, as he slid along the road in the 70kph crash.

There were three more falls, including two nasty looking ones in the finale, with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, Merlier's teammate, involved.

Merlier, 32, grew up just over the border from Dunkirk and had been hoping to win the opening stage Sunday.

"That was a mess," Merlier said of the falls. "I lost a great deal of energy getting in position, but it was a good bike throw. I knew I'd beat Milan."

Lidl-Trek's Milan led over most of the final 150 meters, but even without sealing the stage win, his efforts were rewarded as he inherited the green sprint points jersey from the stricken Philipsen.

Van der Poel in the leader's yellow jersey is the grandson of French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who came second in the Tour de France seven times but never won and also never got to don the yellow tunic.

Another Belgian, the national champion Tim Wellens, gave cross-border fans even more to celebrate as he won the day's only climb, the 2.3-kilometer ascent of Mont Cassel at 31 kilometers from the finish line.

The 34-year-old will hold the king of the mountains polka dot jersey overnight.

Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin is in the best under-25's rider's white jersey after staying in the finishing mix in all three stages.

Fans Turning Out For Tour de France 2025

Regional police said one million spectators had lined the roadsides on the opening day, and while rain dissuaded that kind of turnout for Stage 2, huge crowds turned out again for the run to Dunkirk.

The eleven bikes stolen from outside the Cofidis team hotel early Sunday all were found before the stage's end -- five of them were recovered abandoned in a forest early Monday with the others being tracked down by the police later in the day.

Tuesday's fourth stage is a 174-kilometer run from Amiens, as the Tour leaves the North region, to Rouen in Normandy, with five hills in the final 25 kilometers designed to spark a series of race-splitting attacks.

The first section of the Tour is raced through the north and west of France.

The volcanic landscape of the Puy de Dome presents the first mountains as late as Stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps.

Tour de France 2025 Stage 3 Results – Top 25

1. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) – 4:16:55 (B10)
2. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) – 4:16:55 (B6)
3. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) – 4:16:55 (B4)
4. Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) – 4:16:55
5. Pavel Bittner (Team Picnic PostNL) – 4:16:55
6. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché - Wanty) – 4:16:55
7. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 4:16:55
8. Pascal Ackermann (Israel - Premier Tech) – 4:16:55
9. Amaury Capiot (Arkea-B&B Hotels) – 4:16:55
10. Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 4:16:55
11. Tobias Lund Andresen (Team Picnic PostNL) – 4:16:55
12. Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) – 4:16:55
13. Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla) – 4:16:55
14. Jake Stewart (Israel - Premier Tech) – 4:16:55
15. Damien Touzé (Cofidis) – 4:16:55
16. Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana Team) – 4:16:55
17. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) – 4:16:55
18. Niklas Märkl (Team Picnic PostNL) – 4:16:55
19. Kasper Asgreen (EF Education - EasyPost) – 4:16:55
20. Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ) – 4:16:55
21. Cyril Barthe (Groupama-FDJ) – 4:16:55
22. Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 4:16:55
23. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 4:16:55
24. Samuel Watson (INEOS Grenadiers) – 4:16:55
25. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) – 4:16:55

Tour de France 2025 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 3

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 12:55:37
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 12:55:41
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 12:55:43
4. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) – 12:55:47
5. Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 12:55:47
6. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) – 12:55:47
7. James Blackmore (Israel - Premier Tech) – 12:56:18
8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 12:56:18
9. Ben O'Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) – 12:56:18
10. Emanuel Buchmann (Cofidis) – 12:56:26
11. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) – 12:56:26
12. Neilson Powless (EF Education - EasyPost) – 12:56:26
13. Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) – 12:56:26
14. Guillaume Martin Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ) – 12:56:26
15. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 12:56:26
16. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) – 12:56:26
17. Jarne Berckmoes (Lotto) – 12:56:26
18. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) – 12:56:26
19. Alexis Delestre (TotalEnergies) – 12:56:26
20. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) – 12:56:26
21. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) – 12:56:26
22. Felix Großschartner Lipowitz (Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe) – 12:56:26
23. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe) – 12:56:26
24. Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 12:56:26
25. Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) – 12:56:57

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