CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious star Phil Bauhaus sprinted to a sensational podium yesterday in the third stage of the 2025 Tour de France.
The leg may have been the flattest aside from the event’s individual time trials, but that didn’t prevent a dramatic finale in the seaside town of Dunkerque, where Bauhaus narrowly finished behind winner Tim Merlier Soudal Quick-Step and runner-up Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek.
The day had started from Valenciennes in torrential rain once again, and as the peloton crossed kilometre zero, Matej Mohoric was the first to jump off the front.
With a lack of support for the Slovenian, the early move was short lived, but it set the tone for a lively 178.3km for the 182 riders left in the race.
The rain was soon replaced by clear skies, and the bunch rolled northwest without too much incident for the next 118km, before a big crash at the intermediate sprint in Enocq saw Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck become the eighth rider to abandon ‘Le Tour’ whilst leading the points competition.
There was only one categorised climb on the day’s profile, the C4 Cote de Cassel (2.3km at 3.8 per cent), which came 31km from the finish.
Tim Wellens of UAE Team Emirates-XRG soloed to take the single point, before returning to the pack as the speed increased on the approach to Dunkerque. There were more crashes along the way, most significantly with two km to go, but Bauhaus had been positioned so well by Bahrain Victorious teammates Robert Stannard, Fred Wright and the rest of the team that he was able to stay clear of danger.
Under the ‘flamme rouge’, or the last kilometre, the German was 11th, but bided his time and skilfully moved up to be dead centre with the favourites as the line beckoned.
Taking advantage of the Lidl-Trek train, Bauhaus was slightly hampered on the inside of the last right hand bend, but managed to extricate himself as yet another multi-rider collision happened on the left with 300 metres to go.
From then it was a battle of pure power, as Merlier and Milan were in front with Bauhaus breathing down their necks at the very end.
“To be honest I didn’t see any of the crashes, which shows how well-positioned I was by the boys,” said Bauhaus. “I am really happy with everyone, especially after the first stage when we were all maybe a little disappointed. We got our things together yesterday and now also today, and I think it’s a great result for us.
“I need to be honest and say that with Milan and Merlier, there was nothing I could do. I kept believing, because of the headwind, and I did the maximum I could do. I think everyone is quite happy, including me.”
Whilst that first Grand Tour stage win remains elusive, it was another impressive showing from the 30-year-old, for whom – with three second places and now five thirds – victory comes ever closer.
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