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What’s Really Happening to the Tour de France Riders’ Legs?

Because it looks crazy.

• Vascular legs on pro cyclists are typically the result of a combination of low body fat and higher blood volume due to exercise.
• Expert Debabrata Mukherjee, M.D., says that pro cyclists have twice as much blood flow to their legs, compared to recreational cyclists.
• If you train more, you’ll likely notice more visible veins, but it’s unlikely your legs will look like these pros. Leg aesthetics, including carved calves, can also largely depend on genetics.

Back in 2017, Bora-Hansgrohe rider Pawel Poljanski almost broke the Internet after Instagramming a photo of his “tired legs” following stage 16 of the Tour de France . This left everyone wondering what is really going on with the Tour de France riders’ legs.

The sprawl of veins punching through his paper-thin skin looked like a host of spiders throwing a web-weaving rave. Heck, even my mom reposted it asking, “Does this hurt?!” Other slack-jawed observers wondered if such a vascular look was worth aspiring to or whether Poljanski was simply a freak of nature.

And Poljanski isn’t the only one. Team INEOS shared a dramatic photo of four-time Tour de France general classification winner Chris Froome’s legs back in 2014, and Antoine Duchesne also shared a photo of his legs after training for the Tour before missing the selection in 2017.

Almost every year, a similar photo from a pro cyclist on the Tour pops up. And while these photos are jarring, vascular legs don’t actually hurt (though the efforts to get there usually do). As for the rest of the questions, we tapped vascular expert Debabrata Mukherjee, M.D., chair of the department of internal medicine and chief of cardiovascular medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, to find out what’s really going on here.

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“These prominent veins are due to a combination of low body fat and significant increase in blood that flows through the legs of high-level cyclists,” Mukherjee says. Tour de France riders have minimal body fat, so there’s no soft layer under the skin to mask the veins, which are essentially sitting closer to the surface.

“High-level cyclists also have double the blood flow to their legs compared to recreational exercisers,” he explains. So while you may have about 20 liters a minute coursing through your pistons as you ride, a pro like Poljanski pumps around 40 liters a minute through his pedal-pushing muscles . “That contributes to bulging prominent veins,” Mukherjee says.

And if those metabolic changes don’t pump you up enough, blood pressure increases during exercise can force plasma fluid out of your thin vessel walls and into compartments surrounding your muscles. This process, known as filtration, causes swelling and hardening of the muscle, which nudges all those bulging veins even further to the skin’s surface.

Should you aim to create your own vascular network to share on your social network? Not necessarily. Though they may get a lot of attention, prominent veins in and of themselves are not particularly beneficial, and like diamond carved calves and second knee cap quads , not every rider is genetically wired to achieve the same aesthetic. That said, Mukherjee says a few more veins rising to the surface is definitely an indicator of improving fitness or decreased body fat.

“Since it reflects lower subcutaneous fat and higher blood volume, the harder a cyclist trains, the more prominent the veins will become,” he says. “It is something that may tell an athlete that he/she is getting to a higher level of performance.”

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Here's the science behind why Tour de France rider's legs are so veiny

Why is it that the fittest riders often have such exposed piping?

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Pawel Poljanski and his legs at the 2017 Tour de France

We've all seen pictures of the legs of rider's when they're at peak fitness. Veins standing up like protuberant tree roots surging up against the skin, criss-crossing his quads and calves - it certainly makes for an arresting image. But what's the physiological explanation?

When Bora–Hansgrohe rider Paweł Poljański shared pictures of his jaw-dropping  legs across social media  after stage 16 of the 2017 Tour de France, pundits emerged from all quarters to chip in their views on the how exceptional (or not) Poljański’s legs were.

The latest pro to add to the catalogue of veiny leg images on social media is Enric Mas from Deceuninck - Quick-Step. 

>>> ‘How do cyclists get big legs?’ – you asked Google and we’ve got the answer

And they're not the only ones to have drawn attention for their veiny pedal pushers.

Canadian pro Antoine Duchesne showed off his defined tree trunks after he missed out on a Tour call up (gotta get them some air time after all that hard work!) and  Lotto-Soudal's Tomasz Marczynski bowled us all over with his exceptionally chiselled pipes (and muscles), asserting "Looks like Le Tour is coming!"

In an attempt to explain the phenomenon behind these snaking estuaries of blood transportation, The Times ’ resident doctor, Mark Porter, ventured to temper the hype around Poljański's legs by suggesting that the veiny-ness on display was in fact quite normal.

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“Although the image looks an extreme example,” wrote Porter, “this is exactly what happens in all of us after exercise in warm conditions. You just can’t see it because most of us have much more body fat.”

Fair enough: professional riders have very little body fat, around six to eight per cent, but was this really an adequate explanation? Plenty of riders are very lean, but rarely do we see legs with such startlingly bulging bloodlines.

“The notion that we’d all have legs like that if only we were skinny enough isn’t really correct,” says exercise physiologist Dr Jamie Pringle. The truth, as ever, is more complicated than the tabloids’ brisk explainers would have us believe. Just as important as leanness are athletic adaptations in the vascular system.

“In athletes, we see exceptional vascularisation,” Pringle continues. “That means greater non-visible capillarisation within the muscle, but also greater visible vascularisation at an arterial and venous level.”

In other words, the gruelling training undertaken by a pro cyclist expands both the supply of oxygenated blood to the muscles and the extraction of deoxygenated blood, via veins, back to the heart and lungs.

“There is not more piping as such, but greater arterial diameters and definitely greater flow and dilatation — in response to the muscle's demand for blood and oxygen.”

Bear in mind, in the example of Poljański, the Polish rider had just finished the punishing 165km from Le Puy-en-Velay to Romans-sur-Isère in blustery conditions and crossed the line a mere 1min 43sec behind stage winner Michael Matthews. His leg muscles had been screaming for blood for hours.

A super-adapted blood-supply network is no great advantage in itself, nor does it account for super-veiny legs — the major factor is having more blood.

“An extremely well trained athlete has far greater blood volume as a whole, referred to as hypervolemia,” says Pringle. “Because of that, their veins are simply fuller. That's the key difference."

We’re not talking a few drops of blood, either — the difference is substantial.

“An untrained person has around five litres of blood, typically around 50 - 75ml per kilo — five to seven per cent — of body mass. A world-class endurance athlete can have two or three litres more in total, and as much as 150ml per kilo — 15 per cent — of body mass."

So pro riders, like those pictured, could have twice as much blood in their bodies compared to the average Joe. No wonder their legs occasionally look set to burst.

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David Bradford is features editor of Cycling Weekly (print edition). He has been writing and editing professionally for more than 15 years, and has published work in national newspapers and magazines including the Independent , the Guardian , the Times , the Irish Times , Vice.com and Runner’s World . Alongside his love of cycling, David is a long-distance runner with a marathon PB of two hours 28 minutes. Having been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in 2006, he also writes about sight loss and hosts the podcast Ways of Not Seeing .

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Tour de France 2024 Route stage 9: Troyes - Troyes

Half of the dust roads are situated in the first 145 kilometres, which is the hilly part of the route. All in all, the riders face 32 kilometres on gravel, while the elevation gain adds up to roughly 2,000 metres.

The first dust road appears after 47 kilometres and it’s followed by the first climb, Côte de Bergères (1.7 kilometres at 5.2%). The second gravel sector also coincides with a hill, Côte de Baroville, 2.8 kilometres long and averaging 4.8%.

The riders enter the hardest part of the route after 95 kilometres in the saddle. Within 36 kilometres they face four sectors of gravel and three hills. The section opens with a 1.5 kilometres climb at 5.2% with a dust road in its wake. The two succeeding gravel roads both run uphill, respectively 2.2 kilometres at 5% and 3 kilometres at 4.3%. Another white road, which is not entirely flat either, rounds out this part of the race.

There are still some 70 kilometres remaining at this point. Via two gravel roads in 20 kilometres the riders continue onto five flat gravel sections within 18 kilometres. The last unpaved road then appears 10 kilometres before the line.

Troyes hosted the Tour de France sixteen times before. The last time was in 2017, when stage 6 finished and stage 7 started in the town on the banks of the river Seine. Marcel Kittel is the last stage winner in Troyes.

The first three riders across the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6, and 4 seconds.

Ride the route yourself? Download GPX 9th stage 2024 Tour de France.

Another interesting read: results 9th stage 2024 Tour de France.

Tour de France 2024 stage 9: routes, profiles, videos

Click on the images to zoom

What time will the roads that the stage is using be closed? Thanks. David

Where does the race begin from in Troyes Stage 9. Would you have an approximate address. Thank you. Betty

The race sets off from the market square of Les Halles, and the finish is on Boulevard du 1e RAM.

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This is what 16 stages of the Tour de France will do to a cyclist's legs

There are tired legs, and then there are Tour de France tired legs. On Tuesday, Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski showed the world what 16 stages of cycling, and 2,829.5 kilometers, can do to the muscles that propel him forward on the bike.

“ After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired,” Poljanski wrote on his Instagram post.

After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired #tourdefrance A post shared by Paweł Poljański (@p.poljanski) on Jul 18, 2017 at 10:04am PDT

Such epic muscle photos are not unusual for cyclists, as 2017 Tour favorite Chris Froome had his legs featured in a Team Sky tweet from 2014.

Our man @chrisfroome is looking absolutely ripped ahead of #LBL on Sunday! (Photo: @michellecound ) #VaVaFroome pic.twitter.com/UGePCkvwKU — Team Sky (@TeamSky) April 23, 2014

Poljanski has kindly used his Instagram as an insight into his experience on the Tour, showing off not only his legs but also some of his highlights during the 21-stage cycling race.

Time to start last week of TDF! #tourdefrance #borahansgrohe #stage16 A post shared by Paweł Poljański (@p.poljanski) on Jul 18, 2017 at 1:40am PDT

in this days try to find only good breakaway #tourdefrance A post shared by Paweł Poljański (@p.poljanski) on Jul 13, 2017 at 2:14pm PDT

Another hot and long day ☀️☀️☀️ #tourdefrance #stage7 #borahansgrohe #specialized #adidassporteywear bettiniphoto A post shared by Paweł Poljański (@p.poljanski) on Jul 7, 2017 at 9:48am PDT

Five stages now stand in front of Poljanski, and his Instagram will likely continue to feature updates as his finishes out the journey, even on tired legs.

Tour de France standings, results: Race outlook after Biniam Girmay wins Stage 8

The 2024 Tour De France completes Stage 8 from Semur-En-Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises on wet terrain in gloomy, cloudy conditions on Saturday.

Sprinter Mads Pedersen was notably absence on the starting line in Stage 8 after leaving the race due to an injury he suffered in the fifth stage. The decision to abandon the race was supported by his team, UCI WorldTeam Lidl–Trek, as he struggled through Stages 6 and 7 with pain and swelling that did not improve with treatment. X-rays showed that there was no fracture and Pederson will now take time to rest before competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Jonas Abrahamsen, also known as the king of the mountains, put in another impressive performance. Abrahamsen broke away early and maintained a comfortable lead for most of the race, despite the challenging weather conditions. However, after leading for 115 miles, the Norwegian was caught and dropped back in the field.

It was ultimately Biniam Girmay with Intermarche-Wanty who continued to make history, as he clinched his second win in Stage 8 after a fierce battle in the last half mile of the race.

2024 Tour de France Stage 8 results

• Biniam Girmay (ERI) Intermarché - Wanty 4:04:50
• Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin - Deceuninck
• Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto - Dstny
• Pascal Ackermann (GER) Israel - Premier Tech
• Marijn van den Berg (NED) EF Education - EasyPost
• Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Lidl - Trek
• Anthony Turgis (FRA) TotalEnergies
• Fred Wright (GBR) Bahrain Victorious
• Alex Aranburu (ESP) Movistar Team
• Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step

Tour de France team standings

Tour de france jersey standings.

• Yellow (general classification) : Tadej Pogacar
• Green (points classification) : Biniam Girmay
• Polka dot (mountains classification) : Jonas Abrahamsen
• White (young rider classification) : Remco Evenepoel
• Yellow numbers (teams classification) : Team UAE Team Emirates
• Golden numbers (combativity award) : ---

Tour de France Stage 9: How to watch, schedule, and distance

• Date: Sunday, July 9, 2024
• Location: Troyes to Troyes (France)
• Distance: 123 miles (199 kilometers)
• Type: Hilly stage
• Streaming: Peacock | Fubo (free trial)

How to watch: Catch the 2024 Tour de France FREE on Fubo

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As it happened: Late crash sees chaotic sprint and new yellow jersey on Tour de France stage 3

Biniam Girmay claims stage honours in Turin

Tour de France 2024 - The complete guide Tour de France 2024 favourites Tour de France stage 2 results Tour de France stage 3 preview

Welcome to live coverage of stage 3 of the 2024 Tour de France, which brings the race 230.8km from Piacenza to Turin.

Today’s stage gets under way in just under an hour’s time. The peloton rolls out of Piacenza for the neutralised start at 11.15 CET, with the race due to hit kilometre zero at 11.35.

There are three category 4 climbs on the long run through the Po valley from Piacenza to Turin, though none of them should be difficult enough to deny the sprinters their opportunity on Piazzale Grande Torino this afternoon. First up is the climb to Tortona (1.1km at 6.3%) after 70km, which pays homage to Fausto Coppi. After 155km, the Tour skirts the wine country of the Langhe with the climb to Barbaresco (1.5km at 6.5%), before the day’s final climb to Sommariva Perno (3.1km at 4.6%), whose summit comes with 49km remaining.

Kévin Vauquelin won yesterday's stage to Bologna, while Tadej Pogačar moved into the yellow after making his first attack of the Tour on the San Luca. Jonas Vingegaard, whose participation was in such doubt for so long, was able to follow, while Remco Evenepoel will be buoyed by how he closed the gap over the other side. It was a more chastening afternoon for Primoz Roglic, who lost 21 seconds. You can catch up on yesterday's action here .

General classification after stage 2

1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 9:53:30

2 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep

3 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike

4 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost

5 Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM-Firmenich-PostNL 0:00:06

6 Maxim Van Gils (Bel) Lotto-Dstny 0:00:21

7 Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers

8 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain Victorious

9 Tom Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers

10 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek

Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Carapaz are all on the same time as Pogačar, and they could inherit the yellow jersey based on their finishing position if they finish together in the peloton today. Evenepoel, for instance, needs to come in two places ahead of Pogacar to don the maillot jaune . "Pogačar didn't look very happy with that yellow jersey. Especially for him, it was not the intention to get yellow in those first days," Evenepoel said after the stage, joking that he might try to avoid being passed the parcel today. "Then I'll stay behind. No, we'll see. If it's yellow, all the better. If it's not yellow, then so be it." Stephen Farrand has more from Bologna here .

Incidentally, the 3km zone is instead a 5km zone this afternoon due to the technical nature of the run-in to Turin. Therefore, riders will not be penalised time in the event of crashes or mechanical issues in the final 5km.

Today's @LeTour stage will be the first stage to test the extension of the 3km rule to 5km. The 3km rule is a zone where GC riders aim to be "Safe" in case a crash happens they don't lose time. By extending this to 5km "should" make less stress in the final. Thus giving the… pic.twitter.com/sVYjtUhunM July 1, 2024

The main business of the day, however, looks set to be the seemingly inevitable bunch sprint in Turin. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the obvious favourite, while Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan), who looked on the brink of an early abandon on Saturday is chasing a 35th Tour stage victory. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula) and Arnaud Demare (Arkea-Samsic) should all be in the mix too. Dani Ostanek has all the details in the stage preview here .

In an echo of the 1998 Tour de France start in Ireland, where the team presentation was in ‘Château de Dublin’ and the race climbed the ‘Col du Wicklow Gap,’ ASO has been fastidiously gallicising placenames in Italy at a rate not seen since Stendhal was living the good life in these parts. Torino, like Firenze, is a city whose name is translated in most foreign languages, of course, but some of the other placenames in the roadbook might require a second glance. Today’s start is referred to as ‘Plaisance.’ for instance, while even Tortona has been rendered as the ‘Côte de Tortone.’ 

The peloton has gathered on the start line on the edge of town in Viale Malta, but thankfully the riders will have a chance to see Piacenza’s striking historic centre during the neutralised section as the course winds through Piazza Cavalli and Piazza Duomo, both fine spots to spend an afternoon eating tigelle.

The peloton is navigating the neutralised zone through the streets of Piacenza, famous (among many other things) as the home of former world champion Giorgia Bronzini as well as the famous footballing brothers Filippo and Simone Inzaghi. Another notable piacentino is Jacopo Guarnieri, though he began his cycling career on the other side of the Po in Cremona, with CC Cremonese 1891. The Lotto Dstny rider was understandably disappointed not to be selected for this year's Tour, but he is on hand working for ITV.

💛🚄💛#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/ZnWlcqkJ5q July 1, 2024

After the extremes of heat over the weekend, the conditions appear to be a little more amenable today, with the temperatures expected to be in the mid 20s for much of the afternoon.

The peloton passes kilometre zero but the race hasn't started just yet, with Christian Prudhomme stretching out his arms from the sun roof of the lead car to tell them to slow down as Gianni Vermeersch had a mechanical issue in the neutralised zone. The bunch won't be upset about knocking a kilometre or two off the full 230km distance.

Vermeersch is back on and stage 3 of the Tour de France is formally under way. Prudhomme waves the flag and... there is no response from the bunch, which is content to roll along at 38kph for the time being. It's a long, long way to Turin.

The peloton is ambling gently through these opening kilometres, with nobody willing to go on the offensive just yet. Understandable after a high-octane opening weekend and with the race's first foray into the Alps to come tomorrow. 

The first attack of the day comes from Uno-X Mobility. Green jersey and king of the mountains Jonas Abrahamsen strikes out in the company of teammate Johannes Kulset, and it looks as though the bunch will be content to leave the Norwegian pair to it.

No reaction from the bunch, and Abrahamsen and Kulset quickly open a lead of a minute. The 20-year-old Kulset is the youngest rider on this Tour. 

Jonas Abrahamsen and Johannes Kulset (Uno-X Mobility)

Peloton at 1:32

Back in the peloton, there's a front wheel puncture for Enric Mas, who gets a swift change and immediately rejoins the fray. This has been about as gentle a start to proceedings as this race allows these days, and there will be plenty of tired legs in the peloton glad of the temporary respite.

Abrahamsen and Kulset were clearly hoping for reinforcements, and they have decided to knock off their effort and wait on the side of the road for the peloton catch up. That's a novel way of doing it, but the end result is the same: gruppo compatto, as they say in these parts when ASO isn't around. 

The climb of the San Luca yesterday strongly suggested that this Tour will be Pogacar-Vingegaard IV, while Evenepoel's remarkable pursuit indicates that he is the clear favourite for the time trial later this week. For the rest, including Primoz Roglic, it was a day for limiting losses. "Not exactly how we hoped, but it was damage limitation in the end,” Tom Pidcock said afterwards. Stephen Farrand has more from Bologna here .

The peloton is still together as the race approaches Pavia on its sweep through southern Lombardy. Stradella, finish site of a breathtaking Giro stage in 2021, is a little further along the road, but the route of stage 3 avoids the rolling hills of the Oltrepo Pavese. It's a similar story when the race skirts the Langhe later in the day, though there is at least the climb to Barbaresco.  

All quiet at the head of the race for now. The television coverage enterains us with a grab from Astana-Qazaqstan's race radio, where Mark Renshaw reminds his riders to stay towards the head of the bunch and make sure no more than two or three riders go clear. "We just monitor who's jumping and make sure there's not too many," Renshaw says. The radio crackles into life again soon afterwards: "I don't think there's going to be too many riders motivated to jump away today."

For now, Lidl-Trek are setting a steady tempo on the head of the bunch on behalf of Mads Pedersen.

Mark Cavendish struggled on the opening stage in particular, but he lines up today with designs on stage victory. “I'm ok. I'm a bit tired but everyone is, with the combination of those hard days and the heat, not to mention the long transfer," Cavendish told Eurosport. "We had 180km in the bus this morning, we were up at 6.30… That type of stuff takes it out of you, we're not used to it at the start of the Tour but everybody’s in same boat so hopefully it’s a level playing field in the sprint."

“We've talked through the final, we know what we have to do,” Cavendish continued. “We've got a long straight run, then a 90-degree left turn and another one. I don’t know if you have to brake around it, but if you’re in the first positions you should be ok. Then it’s a 700m straight with a kick inside the last 500km. I like a couple of kilometres of a straight because you can look at what’s going on. But 700m is still good, it’s good to get the lead-out wound up. I have the best guy in the world in Michael Mørkøv and I’ve got Cees Bol to lead us through the corners before that.

The bunch remains intact for now, with Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek sharing the pace-making duties at the front. The sky is cloudier than it was over the opening weekend, and there is a risk of thunderstorms later in the day.

The race passes through the elegant town of Broni, which is the adopted home of 1994 Giro d'Italia winner Evgeni Berzin. The Russian runs a car dealership in the town, a line of business he entered while he was still in the peloton. 

The race is still ambling along at a relatively gentle pace. Tim Declercq, who's been doing the pace-making for Lidl-Trek, opens a small gap over the bunch, seemingly as a joke. It's been that kind of day so far. 

Tadej Pogačar spoke to Eurosport before the start about his attack over the San Luca, where Jonas Vingegaard followed. "I was not surprised, I would say, but I was actually happy with my legs," he said. "I was really happy that I made a gap to the others. It would be better to make a gap to Jonas also. He is really strong, but we will see tomorrow how will be the legs."

Pogačar added that Vingegaard had been reluctant to ride on the front until after the descent.

"When you’re on the road and going full gas, you sometimes don’t hear each other. I wanted him to contribute as much as possible to take time on the others, but he wanted to work after the descent, after the finish of any dangerous bits, which makes sense, I think. It was just a normal race situation."

The peloton covered a relatively modest 37.4km in the first hour of racing. 

Mathieu van der Poel drops back to the Alpecin-Deceuninck team car for a parley. The world champion will be on lead-out duty for Jasper Philipsen today and using this Tour to hone his form for the Olympic Games road race, but there will surely be opportunities for him along the way too, notably on the gravel next Sunday. Van der Poel was a long way off the pace on the hilly opening two days, but that was in keeping with his own prediction before the Tour began.

For now, the entertainment is being provided by the race radio. Visma-Lease a Bike directeur sportif Grischa Niermann tells his riders that his latest information suggests there may be a thunderstorm midway through the stage before conditions dry up ahead of the finish. The temperature is 26°C for the time being, with some increasingly menacing grey skies overhead.

Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek continue to patrol affairs at the head of the peloton, where nobody has been minded to attack since the short-lived Uno-X offensive in the opening kilometres.

The peloton is approaching Tortona, where the race will pay tribute to Fausto Coppi, who died here on January 2, 1960, having contracted malaria in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). Coppi was born in nearby Castellania, where he is also buried, and the Giro visited the village for a stage start in 2017.

The climb out of Tortona, the so-called Côte de Tortone , is the day's first climb, and we might - might - see some activity from the peloton here, even if Abrahamsen is already guaranteed to carry the polka dot jersey into tomorrow's stage. 

Alpecin-Deceuninck lead the peloton onto the Côte de Tortone-Fausto Coppi, a category 4 ascent that climbs for 1.1km at an average of 6.3%.

In keeping with the general non-belligerence of the day thus far, Jonas Abrahamsen drifts off the front to claim the point on offer.  Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) provides a spark of entertainment by jokingly sprinting up alongside the Norwegian before relenting to give him the prime. 

There should be at least a frisson of action in 20km or so, when the race hits the day's intermediate sprint in Alessandria (or Alexandrie, per the Tour's translation), with men like Philipsen and Pedersen looking to snap up some points. 

Matteo Jorgenson, a faller yesterday, drops back to the medical car, seemingly for an adjustment to one of his bandages.

The peloton ambles on towards the intermediate sprint, which comes with 136.5km to go. Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck continue to occupy the prime real estate at the head of the bunch.

There is a mild rise in tension in the peloton as the race draws closer to the intermediate sprint, where we'll get a first look at the men contesting stage honours in Turin later in the afternoon.

Alpecin-Deceuninck wind up the pace for the sprint, with Decathlon-AG2R also moving up on behalf of Sam Bennett.

Alpecin-Deceuninck keep ratcheting up the pace but Jasper Philipsen doesn't seem to be with them. They swing off and Arkea-Samsic take over for Arnaud Demare.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) wins the sprint in Alessandria ahead of Philipsen, who came from a long way back. Bryan Coquard looked to be third, with Arnaud Demare in fourth. 

Intermediate sprint - Alessandria

1 Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 20 pts

2 Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 17

3 Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) 15

4 Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-Samsic) 13

5 Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) 12

6 Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 10

7 Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 9

8 Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R) 8

9 Nils Eekhoof (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) 7

10 Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) 6

11 Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) 5

12 John Degenkolb (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) 4

13 Dan McLay (Arkéa-Samsic) 3

14 Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) 2

15 Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) 1

After the brief increase in intensity for the intermediate sprint, the race has settled back into its previous rhythm. That very early, very short-lived Uno X effort aside, the bunch has been intact for the first 100km of the stage. 

Tim Declercq continues to tap out the tempo at the head of the peloton. The average speed so far remains 39kph.  

Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has been another man performing a lion's share of the pace-making in the bunch today, though the pace has been a relatively gentle one, certainly in comparison to the intensity of the opening two days.

The peloton is entering the province of Asti, which is about as close to sparkling as we'll get in this part of the stage. The terrain grows a little more undulating in 30km or so, when the race crosses into the province of Cuneo and skirts the Langhe on the road to Alba. The next climb comes at Barbaresco with 75km to go.

Meanwhile...

Long day in the control room at #TDF2024 🦁🛰️. #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/nKtQ9wcQ1J July 1, 2024

Maillot jaune Tadej Pogacar is aboard a yellow-flecked Colnago V4Rs today and our own Tom Wieckowski has all the details here .

The race continues to roll along just about in line with its slowest anticipated schedule, with Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Jayco-Alula on the front. 

The race is approaching Canelli on the banks of Belbo, which essentially marks the transition from the hills of the Alto Monferrato to those of the Langhe. Shortly afterwards, the peloton will pass through Santo Stefano Belbo, birthplace of the write Cesare Pavese. There are lots of climbs of 3-4km in the area, like the sharp haul to Mango, but the Tour sticks to the main road, with the detour through Barbaresco the only classified climb in the Langhe.

Silvan Dillier leads the bunch through Canelli. We're still waiting for a break, the brief sortee from Uno-X notwithstanding, but it's hard to imagine anything other than a bunch sprint in Turin to finish the day.

The race is through Santo Stefano Belbo, and it will visit another literary landmark in the Langhe in 30km or so, when the peloton reaches Alba, home of Beppe Fenoglio. Thus far, mind, there has been relatively little to write home about from a rather sedate stage.

MArk Cavendish wheels to a halt for a wheel at the rear of the peloton to get both his wheels swapped out. There had been some chatter on the radio with Mark Renshaw a few kilometres ago about making a switch, and Cavendish has obviously decided he wants deeper rims for the inevitable sprint. As Cavendish rides back towards the peloton, he gesticulates at the television motorbike, seemingly unhappy that its presence is preventing the Astana car from coming past and offering him its slipstream to chase back on.

Cavendish has a minute or so to make up on the bunch, but at the race's current level of intensity, the Manxman is unlikely to encounter any problems in getting back on.

It's five miles or so to the day's second climb, through the vineyards of Barbaresco. The Langhe is very probably the best wine country in the world, with Barolo, Barbera d'Alba, Nebbiolo d’Alba and Dolcetto among those produced in this pocket of rolling hills. 

It's still very relaxed in the peloton, with Wout van Aert and Jasper Stuyven locked in conversation. They'll be teammates at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the Belgian quartet, along with Tiesj Benoot and Remco Evenepoel. Meanwhile, the television coverage offers a snippet from Visma's race radio, with Grischa Niermann gently warning his riders to stay vigilant: "Maybe a moment to wake up a little bit and get a little more into the race."

The bunch swoops between the red-tiled roofs of Neive en route to the foot of the short climb towards Barbaresco. 

The bunch swings onto the climb to Barbaresco (1.5km at 6.5%). It's just a small taste of the kind of climbs that are on offer in this area. It's a great shame, in fact, that Gran Piemonte has never since reproduced the Langhe-centric route it offered in August 2020, when George Bennett won a spectacular edition of the race in Barolo .

This climb of Barbaresco is tackled at a faster clip that the ascent to Tortona earlier. Local favourite Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) owns most of the Strava KoMs in this neck of the woods, and he decides to take the summit here as a point of pride, beating Jonas Abrahamsen to the top. 

Sobrero hails from nearby Montelupo Albese, where his father Giorgio is a winemaker, producing Dolcetto d'Alba and Barbera d'Alba. In other words, he is used to quaffing on something altogether more palatable than his new sponsor's produce...

The GC teams have massed towards the front, but the pace is still relatively calm. Lidl-Trek directeur sportif Steven de Jongh's radio announcement sums up the situation neatly: "GC teams are nervous and they blocked the road so you cannot do the pulling anymore."

The race is descending towards Alba, the heart of the Langhe, famed for Beppe Fenoglio, Ferrero chocolate and truffles. A culinary and wine capital, Alba is also the birthplace of the slow food movement. Today it's going to witness a relatively slow bike race, with the bunch still tightly grouped.

An attack! Fabien Grellier (TotalEnergies) escapes from the bunch on the approach to Alba, and the Frenchman opens a 15-second buffer over the peloton.

Grellier might have preferred some company, but the Frenchman will press on and might even pick up the very low-hanging fruit of the prize for the day's most combative rider.

Fabien Grellier (TotalEnergies)

Peloton at 0:35

The race passes over the Tanaro river as it exits Alba. Grellier presses on alone, 35 seconds clear of the peloton.

Fabien Grellier continues to stretch out his advantage, pushing it out to 48 seconds. The Frenchman won't win the stage, but he might help to ensure it finishes before France kick off against Belgium in Euro 2024 at 6pm CET...  

Alpecin-Deceuninck, Jayco-Alula and Lidl-Trek lead the peloton, 48 seconds behind Grellier. The Frenchman has begun the 3km climb to Sommariva Perno (average gradient 4.6%), and he should at the very least pick up a king of the mountains point for his troubles.

Jan Tratnik moves up towards the head of the peloton for Visma-Lease a Bike, while a delegation from Ineos is also moving into position. 

This will be the second Grand Tour stage to finish in Turin this year, after the breathless opener to the Giro d'Italia in May. On that occasion, on an already hilly day, RCS Sport slotted in the late climb to San Vito to ensure it wouldn't be a reduced group sprint, with Jhonatan Narvaez taking the win ahead of Tadej Pogacar .  There are no such late wrinkles on the profile here. This is the day's final climb and Grellier will crest the summit with a little over 49km still to race.

Fabien Grellier (TotalEnergies) is first to the top of the climb to Sommariva Perno, and the Frenchman has a lead of 50 seconds over the peloton.

The indefatigable Silvan Dillier leads the peloton over the climb, and they are beginning to whittle seconds off Grellier's advantage. It's hard to see anything other than a bunch sprint in Turin - but that doesn't preclude a change of yellow jersey, given that Evenepoel could inherit the tunic from Pogacar if he finishes two places ahead of the Slovenian in the bunch. 

Grellier's advantage is beginning to melt rapidly, with the gap dropping to 20 seconds. The threatened rain hasn't materialised, incidentally, and there are blue skies ahead for the peloton.

A warning from the UAE Team Emirates team car about the wind and the exposed roads - though echelons are a relative rarity in Italian racing, as Alasdair Fotheringham outlined during the Giro d'Italia . 

The bunch is closing in on Grellier. In the absence of any other alternative, the Frenchman will likely end up on the podium as the day's most combative rider for this attack.

As the bunch closes to within five seconds of Grellier, the host broadcaster breaks away from live pictures to offer a slow-motion montage of the peloton's leading sprinters - some of them waving shyly into the camera, like Arnaud Demare, others studiously ignoring it. 

Grellier continues to linger just ahead of the bunch, his attack guttering but not yet snuffed out. The skies are darkening again overhead, but the peloton might just make it to Turin before the heavens open.

Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lidl-Trek and Jayco-Alula lead the peloton, which is hovering 10 seconds behind the lone escapee Fabien Grellier.

Grellier is caught by the peloton, where Tim Declercq is winding up the pace. His former teammate Remco Evenepoel is sitting at the back. It's not clear if he had a mechanical issue, but he looks comfortable as he starts to move up through the field again.

The race has passed through Carmagnola, home of Gianluigi Lentini, who was the most expensive footballer in the world when he left Torino for AC Milan in the summer of 1992. The Tour marks the apex of cycling's transfer rumour season, incidentally, before the window opens on August 1, allowing teams to make formal announcements about their new signings. Meanwhile, it's gruppo compatto on the road to Turin.

The roads are wide on this run-in and the bunch is spread across the full width of the road for now, with Pogacar surrounded by a phalanx of UAE teammates.

Into the final 20km for the bunch, which has been separating and reforming relatively seamlessly through a succession of roundabouts. Delegations from UAE and Visma are bunched on the left-hand side of the road.

The peloton is bunched tightly as it hurtles along at 53kph on the run-in to Turin. The wide roads mean there hasn't been too much jostling for position just yet, but expect that to change the closer we get to the finish...

The sun is out again, so it looks as like the rain will hold off. In the distance, the peloton will be able to make out the hills circling Turin, including the evocative sight of the basilica atop Superga.

Pogacar is tucked in third wheel behind a pair of his UAE teammates on the left-hand side of the road. Ineos are also present in numbers towards the front, together with Visma and Intermarche.

A crash for Casper Pedersen (Soudal-QuickStep) who appeared to touch a wheel when the bunch merged after a roundabout. Pedersen went down alone. He slid along the road and looks to have picked up a lot of cuts and bruises. He sits on the road for some time to be assessed, but now he's back on his feet and it looks like the Dane will remount and complete the stage.

Into the final 10km for the peloton, where UAE and Visma remain represented in numbers at the front, with the sprinters' squads a few places behind them. The usual 3km zone is a 5km zone today, incidentally, so we can expect Pogacar and Vingegaard to drift backwards once they're through that point.

Lidl-Trek have a solid group up here for Mads Pedersen, who highlighted his speed by winning the intermediate sprint. The race passes through Stupinigi, the Savoy hunting lodge that hosted the start of stage 2 of the 2021 Giro.

The peloton is still spread across the road with 8km to go, but the speed is over 55kph, so it's faster than it looks...

Visma-Lease a Bike lead through the next roundabout, and this has strung the bunch out a little bit. At the back of the bunch, Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R) crashes but the Frenchman is quickly back on his bike.

Mathieu van der Poel also a problem. It's not clear if he went down, but at the very least, he's had to stop for a bike change, and that's a huge blow to Jasper Philipsen. Although Van der Poel is chasing back on, it's hard to imagine the world champion will be able to play a role in the lead-out.

Van der Poel has 45 seconds to make up, he surely won't make it. DSM take up the reins on the front of the bunch for Fabio Jakobsen.

Pogacar and the GC men have conceded the front to the sprinters' teams now that we're into the final 5km. Lidl-Trek, DSM and Arkea are all contesting the leading positions.

Alberto Bettiol hits the front for EF and Marijn van den Berg. Lotto are up there too for Arnaud De Lie.

Van der Poel sits up, realising that he won't make it back to play a part in the lead-out. Out in front, it's Lotto dictating terms for De Lie.

A crash in the peloton and a number of riders have gone down, including several from Israel Premier Tech...

There's no relenting out in front, but the bunch looks to have split due to that incident. It's not clear if all the sprinters are in the front group

Intermarche-Wanty lead a reduced bunch into the final kilometre. Sam Bennett is also very well placed....

Decathlon open the sprint for Sam Bennett, but Mads Pedersen still has Lidl-Trek support...

Pedersen opens his effort but Biniam Girmay and Fernando Gaviria go with him...

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) wins stage 3 of the Tour de France.

Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) was second ahead of Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny).

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) is fourth, ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula). 

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) was 14th on the stage and that might - might - be enough to put him in the yellow jersey. It all depends on where Pogacar and Evenepoel finished, but they might have been held up by the late crash.

It appears they were - Pogacar and Evenepoel roll home together in the second group, and I think that might well put Carapaz in yellow. Jonas Vingegaard comes home in the third group. The crash was deep inside the final 5km, so this has no impact on their overall times, but their positions on the stage will determine the yellow jersey.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) is the new yellow jersey of the Tour de France.

1          Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty      05:26:48

2          Fernando Gaviria (Col) Movistar

3          Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto-Dstny

4          Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek

5          Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jayco-Alula

6          Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious

7          Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) DSM-Firmenich-PostNL

8          Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana-Qazaqstan

9          Sam Bennett (Irl) Decathlon-AG2R

10        Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis

General classification after stage 3

1          Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost        15:21:41

2          Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates

3          Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep

4          Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike

5          Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM-Firmenich-PostNL          0:00:06

6          Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain Victorious           0:00:21

7          Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis

8          Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers

9          Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe

10        Aleksandr Vlasov Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe

Girmay was back in 10th wheel when the sprint started, and it wasn't clear if Intermarche were thinking more of Gerben Thijssen for the sprint, but the Eritrean moved up in the closing metres and then smartly chose to make his sprint down the right-hand side, between Pedersen and the barriers. De Lie found himself behind a slowing Pedersen. He tried to go right around Pedersen and Girmay, but there wasn't much room, and his effort served largely to impede Groenewegen. A messy sprint, in other words, but a most worthy winner, as Biniam Girmay becomes the first Eritrean Tour stage winner.

Biniam Girmay on his victory: "Ever since I started cycling, I’ve always been dreaming to be part of the Tour de France - but now, I can’t believe it, to win the Tour de France in my second year in a big bunch sprint, for me it is unbelievable.

"I just want to thank my family, my wife, all the Eritreans, and Africans, we must be proud, now we are really part of the big races, now it’s our moment, our time. I just want to say congrats to all my whole team, because we didn’t have a victory yet [in the Tour de France]. But now is our moment, I’m super-happy. This win is for all Africans, congrats, I’m just super happy today.”

Girmay fights back the tears as the magnitude of his victory hits home. He is the first Black African to win a stage of the Tour, another first after his victories at Gent-Wevelgem and the Giro d'Italia in 2022. Girmay's victory comes 74 years after Marcel Molinès - riding for the North African selection - became the first-ever African-born stage winner in Nîmes in 1950. 

Girmay's victory is all the more remarkable given that both his promising Classics campaign and his Giro d'Italia were ended prematurely by heavy crashes . The Eritrean had started this season very well, mind, after a difficult 2023, and he was quickly drafted into Intermarche's Tour plans. In years past, Intermarche had been unable to secure visas for riders and support staff to train with Girmay in Eritrea, governed by the totalitarian dicatorship Isaias Afwerki, one of the world's most repressive regimes. This year, Rein Taaramae, who regularly trains in Rwanda, managed to enter Eritrea to provide Girmay with a training partner operating at something approaching his level, and sports director Aike Visbeek was hopeful that change would pay dividends . 

Jasper Philipsen and Mark Cavendish, meanwhile, were among the sprinters to miss out on the bunch finale due to that late crash.

Mark Cavendish didn't come down but he lost some positions and momentum due to the crash. "I wasn’t the only one," he said. "I was just looking to stay up. I’m too little to see what’s going on but I could hear it. Someone skidded and I was just waiting for someone to hit from behind. Luckily they didn’t and we kind of got through, but we were way off it and with 2.5km to go we were out of it. I don’t think anybody was seriously hurt and that’s the main thing."

The Manxman had words of congratulations for Girmay's historic victory: "That’s just massive. Cycling is massive in Eritrea. It’s super good for him and for African cycling. He’s a legend, isn’t he?"

Dylan Groenewegen was frustrated after his 5th place: “There wasn’t enough space to launch my sprint, so that’s a big disappointment because I had a feeling that I had really good legs, and there was more possible, but that’s sprinting.”

Richard Carapaz, meanwhile, is the first Ecuadorian rider to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour. 

Remco Evenepoel was the man expected to take yellow from Pogacar, but the Belgian was held up by the late crash. "Yes, it's a surprise for us," Carapaz says. "We thought it would be difficult, but today I felt good and think it was worth the risk. I had to play for it and had to try to go for it. The team has done incredible work until the end. I'm really happy."

Pogacar, of course, might take the jersey back tomorrow, when the Tour climbs the Galibier en route to Valloire. "Tomorrow will be a big day," says Carapaz. "It will be complicated. I'm going to try and give everything. I'm going to try and enjoy every single moment in the yellow jersey."

Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) remains in the green jersey, 10 points clear of Girmay, and the Norwegian also retains the king of the mountains jersey, 13 points up on Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ). Remco Evenepoel retains the white jersey, while Movistar lead the teams classification.

Remco Evenepoel shrugged off any disappointment at missing out on yellow. “I wanted to come in at my ease - well, figuratively speaking – and that was a success. The mission of the day was a success,” he told Sporza. " I didn't think about yellow. I'm here without injuries and hopefully it will stay that way. Others have fallen seriously and that's not nice to see."

Tomorrow’s stage over the Galibier will be an early test of his credentials. “It’s important, but not the most important day of the Tour. It will not be the most difficult stage. There may be differences, but not the biggest differences. We have to be ready for war and then we will see what can come of it."

Mathieu van der Poel, meanwhile, suffered not one but two punctures in the finale, which prevented him from serving as Jasper Philipsen's lead-out man - though Philipsen was himself disrupted by the crash that split the bunch 2.4km from home.

Mark Cavendish's prospects of a 35th Tour stage win were ruined by the late chaos here, though the Manxman was reliefed to have avoided going down in the crash. Stephen Farrand was at the Astana bus after the stage and he reported on the scene .

Richard Carapaz takes an historic first yellow jersey for Ecuador. "It's a dream for me because of all the respect I have for the Tour to wear yellow at the best race in the world," he said. Read the full story here .

A full report, results and pictures from today's stage are available here .

Dani Ostanek has more reaction from Biniam Girmay in Turin here .

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