Another sprint stage, another miscalculation by the peloton, another breakaway win and another JOYOUS victor.

Stage 3: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to Tullins, 184km

Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo) made it into the 6-man breakaway to gain King of the Mountain points and ended the day crossing the line, arms outstretched for his first professional win. With a strong tailwind in the final kilometres, the sprinters teams miscalculated and bickered and were unable to catch the strong sextet. Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille Provence) and Wanty’s Frederik Backaert rounded out the podium. The race lead remains unchanged with Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) holding 48secs advantage going into the time trial on stage 4.

I still can’t believe it. I know that my girlfriend, my parents and all my friends are looking on television and this is my first pro win, and it’s in the Dauphiné too, which is a really big race. I can’t believe it.

Don’t you just love it when this happens? All of the joy!  And all of the curls on the podium too!

And he’s now only 3 points behind Thomas De Gendt for the KOM jersey. Perhaps he’ll wear for it himself soon. Chapeau to teammate Alexey Vermeulen who rode himself into the ground in the final kilometres to keep the break away.

Full report at Cycling News

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Header image: Koen Bouwman PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images