With two categorised climbs in the first fifty kilometres, the toughest part of the third stage was in the first half. Six riders attacked shortly after the start and built up a maximum lead of three minutes. The peloton kept the breakaway within reach and upped the pace on the third and final climb of the day.  

It marked the end of the breakaway and the start of a frantic finale, characterised by echelons. Team Visma | Lease a Bike was alert and had six riders in the first group of around fifty riders. Remco Evenepoel then attacked with just over 25 kilometres to go. Vingegaard was alert and was the only one to jump onto his wheel.

The two seemed set to stay ahead of the chasing peloton, had it not been for Evenepoel crashing in the final kilometer. Vingegaard then eased off. "This isn’t the way I want to win a race", he said afterwards. "When I saw Remco crash, I decided to wait for the peloton. Above all, I hope he’s okay and that he can continue the race tomorrow."

Vingegaard hadn’t expected to be in contention for the win. "I thought a large group would go to the finish today. At one point, Remco attacked and I went after him on instinct. He rode very strongly on the flat roads and I was glad I could follow him."

Sports director Jesper Mørkøv saw a strong Vingegaard. "Jonas has shown today that he’s in good form. He also showed a high level of performance in Paris-Nice, so it’s no surprise that he’s in good shape here. A tough day lies ahead tomorrow and we’ll do everything we can to play our cards as well as possible."