The German road champion Liane Lippert sniffs at a day's victory in the third stage of the Tour de France - but shortly before the end an accident stops her. The Danish Cecilie Ludwig wins instead. For track world champion Laura üßmilch, the tour has already ended after a serious crash.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig has won the third stage of the women's Tour de France. The Danish champion from Team FDJ won the steep sprint final after 133.6 km between Reims and Epernay ahead of overall leader Marianne Vos (Netherlands/Jumbo-Visma), who successfully defended her yellow jersey.
Olympic time trial champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands/Movistar) fought back despite stomach problems and a toilet break at the wrong moment shortly before the finish, but in the end lost 20 seconds to the day's winner and is already more than a minute behind Vos.
After serious accidents on Monday, there were also a few falls on the third stage, and German road champion Liane Lippert (Friedrichshafen) was also affected. She was extremely unlucky in second place, slipped in a corner just twelve kilometers from the finish and fell on the asphalt. But Lippert was able to continue and reached the finish line just under a minute after the winner, Ludwig.
On Wednesday, the field continues on 126 hilly kilometers from Troyes to Bar-sur-Aube. The "Tour de France Femmes" ends on Sunday after eight stages on the legendary Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges.
The German track world champion Laura üßmilch (Weingarten/Plantur-Pura) fell heavily on Monday. As a result of a chain reaction, the 25-year-old crashed onto the asphalt with around ten other starters and was seriously injured, breaking two vertebrae and initially having to wear a neck brace. This was announced by her Belgian team Plantur-Pura after examinations in the hospital via Twitter. The fractures are stable, and Sweet Milk hopes to "be able to return to Germany soon".
But she wasn't the only one for whom the day in the hospital bed and the tour ended abruptly. Italy's Marta Cavalli was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, and the co-favourite, after a fall through no fault of her own - the Australian Nicole Frain had cleared her at high speed - initially continued driving before her team intervened.
