TdFF daily stage 3: Kathrin Hammes has solo day in the break

Today it was Kathrin Hammes who had a go on stage three after Georgia Williams was in a two rider break yesterday.

As no rider could escape the peloton and match her pace, Kathrin was alone at the front of the race. This meant she had to work that much harder as she had no one to share the work with but she enjoyed her 60 kilometers leading the race. Along the way, she scored the maximum number of points in the mountains classification, cresting the Côte du Peyroux, the Côte du Pératel, and the Côte de L’Escurotte first. Our German rider now sits third in the QOM competition.

Once Kathrin was caught, new riders tried to attack but it was only when the race entered the last 60 kilometers that another rider managed to escape. It all came together again in the finale, a fast and hectic run-in along a flat road. Letizia Borghesi sprinted to 13th while Veronica Ewers finished safely and remains in the top 20.

Hear from our riders about the stage.

Kathrin Hammes
It was a bit lonely. I think it was the first solo break in my life. I can’t remember but it was very lonely. At least I could be sure that all the cheering was just for me! That was kind of a nice feeling.

I was just hoping someone would jump and join me. At some point I tried to motivate myself by getting those mountain classification points. In general I was just hoping someone would join me or a split would happen and then a small group would catch me but it didn’t happen.

I was just riding steady. I tried not to smash myself but it’s kind of hard because I kept going for so long. I just rode steady and then I saw the peloton coming. I tried to recover a bit and then stayed in the peloton and we focused on the sprint.

Letizia sprinted and she said she was around 11th or 13th. That’s not a lucky number but it’s still a good result and we kept Veronica safe so that’s also good for the rest of the week.

Magdeleine Vallieres
It was good. I tried to always stay near Veronica and when it was a bit hectic, I tried to stay in front of her and hide her a bit so then it was easier for her and I followed a couple of moves. I was very worried about Kathrin who was alone in the front. She was alone without any friends, haha. But I think it was a good day for the team. We maybe missed the top of the sprint but it was a good day.

Letizia Borghesi
Today we should have sprinted for Alison so I tried to help her to get in position in the last three or four kilometers. But then it was really, really chaotic and the group was really large so there was no room for moving up. We had to pass in some really narrow spaces so it was really difficult. For a long time we were together but then we lost each other. When I realized she was not on my wheel at one K to go, I tried to go because I didn’t have time to go and get her and gain a good position again so I tried to sprint. There was a lot of pushing. In the last corner, I was a bit far back so the group split and I was springing from maybe 20th position. I was able to pass some people. Apart from the sprint, I’m happy with how I’m feeling at the beginning of this Tour de France and I’m looking forward to more stages.