Tour de France 2025: stage three from Valenciennes to Dunkirk – live

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Here’s a weather report from the Tour’s race centre:

Right now, it’s raining heavily on the outskirts of Valenciennes. Fortunately, the rain will ease off as the stage progresses … at the same time as the north wind picks up. It will blow sideways to the peloton until Lilliers (km 108.5). Then, it will be a headwind. Temperatures will range between 15ºC and 20ºC.

Today's rollout has begun

Stage three of the Tour de France 2025 is under way. The peloton have rolled out from a very rainy Valenciennes. There’s a 6.6km neutralised section before the racing begins.

Movistar’s Enric Mas snaps a selfie with teammates before the start of stage three. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters

Jem has been in touch fom Kenilworth, Warwickshire, and says:

Anyone else enjoying this year purely for the fact that it is free from the unbearable stress of waiting for Cav to get that 35^th win?

I don’t mind who wins the sprints any more and I don’t have to worry about him hauling himself over an Alp within the time limits.

It’s Pogi for me from now on – but it’s TDF time which is always exciting for me.

That’s a good point Jem. Also, if anyone has been following Mark Cavendish’s posts and videos from the Tour on social media so far, you’ll have seen how the Manx missile is having the time of his life from the sidelines. It’s fascinating to see him discovering the buzz of the Tour from a fan’s perspective. He told Ned Boulting in an interview that the TdF is even bigger than he had realised and joked that he wished he’d retired five years ago.

On that note, Rouleur’s Stephen Puddicombe has written about the Paris-Roubaix landscape that today’s stage will – and won’t – touch upon:

This landscape will be recognisable to cycling fans as Paris-Roubaix country – the Arenberg Forest, one of the most famous sites of that race, is located a mere 10 kilometres away from Valenciennes. Yet the organisers have chosen not to include any of that race’s notorious pavé sectors; much to the disappointment of fans who’d have relished the rare and thrilling spectacle of cobblestone racing at a Grand Tour, but to the relief of many GC contenders and their staff, anxiously aware of how one piece of bad luck on such a chaotic stage, be it a crash of puncture, can see their dreams of a high GC finish unravel even this early in the race.

Instead, he writes, the peloton will cover flat, tarmacked roads to Dunkirk – the northernmost point of this year’s Tour.

Talking about Paris-Roubaix, I can highly recommend going to watch on the roadside. It’s absolutely thrilling and has a great atmosphere. Also, it’s worth seeing some of those cobbles up close.

Paris-Roubaix 2025 race winner Mathieu Van Der Poel in the breakaway passing through a cobblestone sector. No such terrain for the peloton today. Photograph: Getty Images

A stage three briefing, via Thierry Gouvenou, ex-professional cyclist, director of the race and architect of the Tour de France race route:

Third stage of the Tour de France, Valenciennes to Dunkirk, [is] certainly the flattest stage, but perhaps not the least tricky.

We’ll pass through places like Orchies, Mons-en-Pévèle, and the roads of Paris-Roubaix without the cobblestones. And then quickly, we’ll head towards the Flanders Plain. We’ll have the climb of Cassel, which will be the highest point of the stage. But right after Cassel on the way to Dunkirk, we’re in very flat areas but also very windy and we can expect echelons.

Everything will depend on the wind, but it will still be a moment of caution for the Tour de France leaders, and for the sprinters it will still be a chance to win another stage.

Oh dear, the sun is not shining in Valenciennes:

Not to be smug, but the weather looks decidedly better out of my window in London. Where are you all following along from?

Here’s the profile of stage three of the Tour de France 2025:

Stage two: Valenciennes to Dunkirk, 178km

Here’s a look at today’s stage, Monday 7 July: Valenciennes to Dunkirk, 178.3km, with William Fotheringham’s preview:

A third very accessible day for UK fans, another ascent of Cassel, but the safe money is on a bunch sprint in Dunkirk, famed among cycling fans for the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque stage race which actually lasts six days. The same proviso as day one: a westerly equals crosswinds on the final exposed 35km and splits in the field. These early days will be packed with crashes and tension, but Philipsen and company will be licking their lips.

Also, you can look ahead to every stage with this handy guide:

Preamble

Welcome back to the Guardian’s Tour de France 2025 live blog! Join me for coverage of stage three – the flattest of the entire race this year. The 178.3km route from Valenciennes to Dunkirk features just one category four climb and 800m of elevation gain. The rollout is expected at 1.10pm CEST (12.10pm BST) and the finish should be about 5.18pm CEST (4.18pm BST) – although often the peloton go faster than the predicted speeds.

Does that mean it’ll be boring? Hopefully not. I think it’ll be fast and, possibly, furious. The GC contenders will be vying to stay out of trouble, while the sprinters will have their eyes set on a stage win. There’s a prediction of windy conditions too, which could cause a bit of tension in the peloton.

So, who might ride to victory today? Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) is a firm favourite with pundits, but it’ll be worth keeping an eye on Ineos Grenadiers’ Sam Watson with him having triumphed at the Four Days of Dunkirk stage race in May. Other sprinters looking to contest a sprint finish? Obviously there’s stage one winner, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), as well as Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula), Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty). Although the latter might be feeling sore after a crash on yesterday’s stage. I would love to hear your predictions so please email me your thoughts.

While we wait for the live TV coverage to kick off, here’s Jeremy Whittle’s stage two race report from Boulogne-sur-Mer: