Overview
- Ineos-Grenadiers captured Stage 3 between Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire and Pouilly-sur-Loire, with Kévin Vauquelin finishing off a ride paced by Josh Tarling as Oscar Onley faded late.
- Juan Ayuso took the overall lead thanks to Lidl–Trek’s second place at two seconds and the four bonus seconds he gained during Monday’s intermediate sprint.
- Team Visma–Lease a Bike placed fourth at 15 seconds, leaving Jonas Vingegaard 17 seconds behind Ayuso ahead of Wednesday’s summit finish at Uchon.
- Decathlon–CMA CGM finished third after a long final pull from Daan Hoole, who was caught 700 meters from the line in Monday’s stage.
- The opening sprint stages produced surprise winners, with Luke Lamperti taking a crash-disrupted Stage 1 and Max Kanter prevailing in Montargis on Stage 2.