Tim Merlier wins crash-blighted stage three – Tour de France

Tim Merlier won a dramatic stage three of the Tour de France as a string of crashes caused chaos in the final 10 kilometres. Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic both suffered painful tumbles and lost time, defending champion Tadej Pogacar was held up by an incident inside the last four kilometres, while both Mark Cavendish and Caleb Ewan were denied the opportunity to contest the stage.

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Mathieu van der Poel rides into yellow with superb stage 2 win – Tour de France

Mathieu van der Poel won Stage 2 with a blistering ride over the double-ascent at Mur-de-Bretagne to take the yellow jersey in mesmerising style. Slovenians Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic led the chase six seconds down but Julian Alaphilippe could only manage fifth place and conceded the race lead to the Dutch debutant after another dramatic day on the Tour de France.

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Mathieu van der Poel storms to Strade Bianche victory

Mathieu van der Poel produced a spectacular victory to clinch the 2021 Strade Bianche title in style. The 26-year-old came up with a number of magical bursts just when he needed to and had too much for his rivals to seal a memorable win. Julian Alaphilippe came in second place with Egan Bernal in third.

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