Sigrid Haugset solos to Tour de France Femmes stage 3 win and yellow jersey after 89km breakaway

The solo breakaway

Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) attacked from a group of ten riders on the Côte de la Savine, 89 kilometres from the finish in Poligny, and rode alone to win stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes. The 27-year-old Norwegian champion covered the 156.5 km route from Geneva in 4 hours 5 minutes 59 seconds, averaging 38.2 km/h. The victory is her second as a professional, after winning the Norwegian national road title in late June, and the first ever by a Norwegian woman at the Tour. Her 89-kilometre solo effort is the longest breakaway in the history of the women’s Tour.

Kopecky’s pursuit

Belgian Lotte Kopecky, who had worked earlier in the stage for teammate and then-leader Lorena Wiebes, launched a determined chase. She cut the gap to 50 seconds with 39 km remaining and closed to within 13 seconds on the climb to Chaux-Champagny. Haugset later admitted she feared being caught.

I never thought it was possible, it's unreal. At one point I thought Kopecky would catch me, but from my car they encouraged me to keep pushing. I knew I had to give everything. I was half dizzy at the finish, my boyfriend will be angry I didn't celebrate.

Kopecky faded in the final kilometres and crossed the line 1 minute 24 seconds behind Haugset. Dutch rider Marianne Vos took third, 2:48 back.

General classification overturned

Wiebes, winner of the first two stages, was dropped on the Col de la Faucille, an 11-kilometre climb averaging over 6%, just 17 km into the stage. She finished more than 18 minutes down and surrendered the yellow jersey. Haugset now leads the overall standings with a time of 11:17:56. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mauritius) sits second at 2:02, and 2023 champion Demi Vollering (Netherlands) is third at 2:06, despite a minor crash on the Faucille. A large group of favourites including Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, and Elisa Longo Borghini are all at 2:10. Spanish rider Paula Blasi retained the white jersey as best young rider.

Time trial ahead

Stage 4 on Tuesday is an individual time trial from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon. The distance is reported as 21 kilometres by most sources, though one outlet listed 12 km. The flat, power-focused test is expected to create the first significant time gaps among the overall contenders before the race heads toward the Alps and the 9 August finish in Nice.