In an incredible day of racing, Norwegian national champion Sigrid Haugset led for the majority of the route between Geneva and Poligny and held on to become the first Norwegian stage winner in the history of the Tour de France Femmes, securing a solo victory that sees her move from 46th place right into the leader's yellow jersey.
After attacking and taking the lead with 89km left to go, the Uno-X Mobility rider dug in deep and stayed ahead of the Belgian Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx - Protime), who battled alone and in vain to catch her. Haugset's heroic ride has seen her achieve the longest solo breakaway victory in Tour de France Femmes history, and the very first for a Norwegian rider.
Marianne Vos (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) crossed the line third and with that result moves into third place in the General Classification.
Kim Le Court (AG Insurance - Soudal) finished in fifth and maintains her second place in the GC, with Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) also holding her third-place spot in the GC. However, erstwhile leader Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who was missing in action for most of today and finished 80th, has plummeted out of the top 10 and currently sits in 67th position.
The 156.5km-long stage, which took riders up into the mountains for the first time and saw the race move from Switzerland into France, was contested in blazing hot conditions, with temperatures hitting 37°C in the shade.
But that didn't deter Haugset, a tough cookie who once rode 58km of the infamously bumpy Paris-Roubaix race with broken hip. Wearing the colours of a Norwegian champion, the Uno-X Mobility rider pushed through the pain of her epic solo ride with Viking-like determination, and finished the stage with a broad grin.
"I never thought it was possible," said Haugset in the post-stage interview. "It's unreal. When I went, it wasn't many seconds, and I thought, yeah, she will catch me. And I thought: 'Shall I just drop down to her? Yeah OK, second is good.' But I kept on.
"I was thinking about all my teammates, and everyone cheering from home. And it was like, I had to give it all. And yeah... I can't believe that she didn't catch me. And in the Norwegian jersey – it's fantastic."
Early in the day, with 143km to go, race favourite and 2023 Tour de France Femmes winner Demi Vollering was involved in a crash, but the FDJ United–Suez rider was quickly back on her bike and riding again.
However, while Vollering and Kim Le Court (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) stayed in the chasing group, along with defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) and Célia Gery (FDJ United - SUEZ), the story of today's stage was about the battle between Haugset and her only real challenger, Lotte Kopecky.
The Belgian came within 10 seconds of catching Haugset with 10km left to go, but the Norwegian dug deep and as the finish line came within 5km the gap went back out to well over 30 seconds and kept growing.
RESULTS
TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES STAGE THREE: Geneva › Poligny (156.5km)
1. Sigrid Haugset (Nor) Uno-X Mobility in 4:05:59
2. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx - Protime, + 1:24
3. Marianne Vos (Ned) Team Visma - Lease a Bike, + 2:48
4. Usoa Ostolaza (España) Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi
5. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal
6. Noemi Rüegg (Sui) EF Education-Oatly
7. Célia Gery (Fra) FDJ United - SUEZ
8. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly
9. Malwina Mul (Pol) Cofidis
10. Monica Trinca Colonel (Ita) Liv AlUla Jayco, all at the same time
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE THREE
1. Sigrid Haugset (Nor) Uno-X Mobility in 11:17:56
2. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, + 2:02
3. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United-Suez, + 2:06
4. Noemi Rüegg (Sui) EF Education-Oatly, + 2:10
5. Marianne Vos (Ned) Team Visma - Lease a Bike, "
6. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, "
7. Elisa Longo Borghini (Italian) UAE Team L'Imad, "
8. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, "
9. Puck Pieterse (Ned) Fenix-Premier Tech, "
10. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZ) Lidl - Trek, "
