Tour de France 2022: Stage 3 – Groenewegen’s return; Wout stays in yellow

It’s been nearly two years since Fabio Jakobsen and Dylan Groenewegen collided at the Tour of Poland, resulting in a long physical recovery for Jakobsen and a long mental recovery for Groenewegen. Fast forward to the conclusion of this year’s Grand Depart in Denmark and we’ve seen both men return to the top of the sport. Jakobsen blasted off a sprint win in stage 2 yesterday, of course, and Groenewegen took a photo finish win in the sprint today. The Dutchman, who now rides for BikeExchange, narrowly edged out VeloVoices lover boy and yellow jersey wearer, Wout van Aert, while Alpecin’s Jasper Philipsen finished third.

The general classification remains largely unchanged with van Aert stretching his yellow jersey lead to 7sec as the race makes its way to France. In an unfortunate sign of the argy bargy-ness and nerves of the start of the race, the likes of EF’s Rigoberto Uran, and Bahrain’s Damiano Caruso and Jack Haig – as well as many others – lost just under 40 seconds as the result of a crash in the final 10km.

The Sprint

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but not much happened (again) in this stage. The poor lads on commentary did their best to keep viewers engaged, but even with 20km to go, I was really struggling to keep my eyes open. I’ll just let you watch the one exciting bit of it:

The win obviously meant a lot for Groenewegen. I mean, just look at this video!

🥹 This win means A LOT for @GroenewegenD! Share his emotion at the finish of the stage.#TDF2022

🥹 Cette victoire signifie BEAUCOUP pour @GroenewegenD ! Partagez son émotion sur la ligne d'arrivée. pic.twitter.com/nbJFQaoff7

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2022

#TDF2022

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS 💙💙💙 pic.twitter.com/PlegLKV4QE

— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) July 3, 2022

Even Peter Sagan was happy. We know how serious he is…

pic.twitter.com/NnhInyz3QF

— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 3, 2022

EF & Danish Corner

Okay, ready for some celebration? Good! Because EF and their Dane, Magnus Cort, are rocking it in Denmark! Yesterday, Cort snuck his way into the breakaway and claimed all of the day’s breakaway points. Today, clad in his polka dot jersey and helmet and atop his hot pink Cannondale, he was the SOLE breakaway rider and claimed ALL of the points AGAIN!

👍 @MagnusCort genießt seinen Tag bei der #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/YrqL6o4i9K

— Tour de France – DE (@letour_de) July 3, 2022

I wish I were Midge, because she would be able to wax lyrical far better than I will ever be able to. But… I’m me, just a silly American boy with a love for this goofy team. Whether you’re a Dane or an EF fan, though, it’s hard not to be happy. The happiness of the Danish fans shows that even more.

As I said… these fans are something else. 🤩 #TDF2022 #TourdeFrance https://t.co/HmqeQ2d9qL pic.twitter.com/inRyf3oe6r

— Anna Mac (@AnnamacB) July 3, 2022

They maybe should have rethought this one, though. . . [they have ACTUAL Danes on that team! and they dress Uran up like THAT? And isn’t the hammer a Thor thing, ie Norse?- ed]

When in Rome @UranRigoberto 🇩🇰

📸: Charly Lopez / ASO pic.twitter.com/3w3guvHNlq

— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) July 3, 2022

Luke’s Smoothie Recipe

Since I promised and then underdelivered a world-class milkshake recipe during the Giro d’Italia, I think it’s only proper that I share a proper smoothie recipe. So, here it is. Go make it and tell me it’s not delicious!