Reactions: The Tour peloton had plenty to say about the finale of stage 3

The peloton took aim at the UCI and ASO on Twitter following a crash-marred finale to stage 3.

Published June 28, 2021 05:57PM

Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) rode to his first career Tour de France stage victory on a stage 3 marred by multiple crashes that saw several big names hit the deck.

Among the many fallers on the stage were Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe). Race leader Mathieu van der Poel finished safely in the lead group to retain the Maillot Jaune for another day.

The peloton was swift to take to Twitter to offer their thoughts on the course (mostly negative) with a few choice words aimed at the UCI and ASO. We’ve curated all the reactions below.

I hope Lachlan Morton navigated that finish ok.
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 28, 2021

Devastated, after the terrible crash of Caleb today, after a day of hard work @Lotto_Soudal
Resetting our minds #TDF2021 and hope on a good recovery for our top sprinter !🤞 pic.twitter.com/LHzowescFC
— Marc Sergeant (@marc_sergeant) June 28, 2021

🥶 • I was lucky today to stay on the saddle but I’m sad for those who had a different fate. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/2ENTtUSvzj
— Sonny Colbrelli (@sonnycolbrelli) June 28, 2021

Black day, but @JumboVismaRoad will bounce back. Best wishes for all the riders who went down. #LeTour2021
— Merijn Zeeman (@merijnzeeman) June 28, 2021

Roglič came from behind me to move up, and our handlebars got caught together, which almost pulled us both to the ground. It was only luck that I remained up on the bike. My reaction after the crash was more out of fear than anything else. [2/3]#TDF2021
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) June 28, 2021

Hard to comment on what happened today. It is inevitable there will be crashes when stakes are this high for both GC riders and sprinters in the first week.
— Matej Mohoric (@matmohoric) June 28, 2021

Whoever designed today’s stage @LeTour should try to ride with 180 riders on a twisty 5m wide road next to each other and pushing Wachbootes to the limits. Of course we riders make the race at the end but the riders also ask for an earlier time taking 5 km to go which was refused
— Andre Greipel (@AndreGreipel) June 28, 2021

Fuck it
— Jacopo Guarnieri (@jacopoguarnieri) June 28, 2021

Glad to get through today unscathed. Some nasty crashes, hope everyone is okay 🙏 #TDF2021 #stage3 pic.twitter.com/ghEYYtJ04X
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 28, 2021

J’ai regardé le replay du final d’aujourd’hui et franchement tout le monde avaient des chaussettes à la bonne hauteur donc tout va bien 🤷🏻‍♂️
— Julien Bernard (@JulienBernard17) June 28, 2021

Translation: “I watched the replay of today’s finale and frankly everyone had socks that were the right height so everything is fine.”

In F1 there is a quali for a reason. What happens in the first corner when everyone are allowed to start from P1? Success at @LeTour can change people lives… and we're allowing 184 riders to take yellow, win a stage, take jerseys on Day 1 when we all know that road is 8m wide.
— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) June 28, 2021

You win together, you lose together. Speedy recovery Caleb. pic.twitter.com/Qme2xWtnHf
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) June 28, 2021

And off course: All the best to everyone who was involved in a crash! Hope they all heal quick 🤞 https://t.co/pJ2bOSLulO
— Jasper Philipsen (@JasperPhilipsen) June 28, 2021

.... 2/2 the peleton I spoke to the jury and said this was not correct under the extreme circumstances of a nasty crash and a mangled shoulder. I shouted at the jury and said some words i shouldn’t of. There ya have it, peace out ✌️ #chill
— Luke Rowe (@LukeRowe1990) June 28, 2021

Turn on subtitles in the video above for Philippe Gilbert’s views.

Tour de France

Add Velo as a preferred source on GoogleAdd