Another day of crashes. Merlier wins, Roglic ends up in the hospital.

If a finish is for sprinters when a sprinter wins, then today's finish in Pontivy was a great one. The third stage of the Tour went to Tim Merlier, the Belgian sprinter of Alpecin-Fenix ​​who he had left the Giro with an excuse and just five days later he went on to win the Ronde Van Limburg. But if we think back to the pandemonium of protests at the Giro on the day of Cattolica, when a traffic island sent Landa and Dombrowski home and it was said that it was not possible to put in a sprint after all those difficulties, then it must be said – in light of the falls of Roglic, Haig and Thomas who then ended up in hospital – that Today's finish was not only not a sprinter's finish, but it was too dangerous a finish regardless of who won it.

Gesink and Thomas

Third day of crashes at the Tour, without a single team being able to take control of the race, given the impossibility of staying in line long enoughAmong the casualties of the day, the first to go home was Robert Gesink, who fell in the pile after 37 kilometers together with Geraint Thomas, whose right shoulder has come off. Later on it was the turn of Primoz Roglic, who crossed the finish line in 1'21" late and looking battered.

«They made it fly – said Plugge, team manager of Jumbo Visma – He is bruised and has pain in his coccyx, they are taking him to the hospitalThe other boys say another rider hit him and sent him flying. With the final 18 kilometers of descent, before a sprint finish. The right roads...».

Ewan and Sagan

The latest fall in chronological order came a few meters from the finish, when the one who fell was Caleb Ewan, but through his own fault. Launched into the sprint, the Tasmanian dragged Peter Sagan with him. In their wake, Sonny Colbrelli he avoided the crash and crossed the finish line in fifth place, behind Ballerini. While yesterday's undertaking over, Mathieu Van der Poel finished seventh, after having given the sprint to his teammate. Yet There's something strange in Sonny's tone of voice. First he says he doesn't want to talk, then he starts to tell his story..

Roglic on the ground

«I feel sorry for Roglic – he says – He latched onto me. He came at me.I had placed myself behind the Alpecins to get them to the front. He had evidently chosen those wheels too, but He was behind me when I snuck in. And maybe he wasn't looking or I don't know, but he hit me right in the face.That's why I raised my arm. And luckily I stayed calm at the end, at 300 meters, and managed to brake. Otherwise I would have ended up on Caleb Ewan and Sagan too.... ".

Let's review the imagesThe shot doesn't fully capture the scene. We see Roglic falling and Colbrelli turning and raising his arm, as in his story, as if the Slovenian had hit him from behind.

Dangerous routes

The point is the paths, too narrow and twistedDangerous, as can be a race course with continuous ups and downs and a winding descent, with tight, 90-degree curves, heading towards the finish line. Wasn't today's finish line in Pontivy more dangerous than the one in Cattolica?

«The routes are bad – confirms Colbrelli – and the group is very nervousAt this rate, a sprinter will win the Tour. I'm feeling good, too; I finished fifth and almost didn't make the sprint. I'm jumping in, but I'm scaredIt happens when you see a teammate fall. Today we lost Jack Haig who would have made the rankingsThe ambulance took him away and now he's in the hospital. I was still falling even in the last kilometer, but these are not stages where a train can lend a handThese are stages where at most you can hope to save yourself."