2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Team Visma | Lease a Bike's recent run of winning form continued when they clinched victory in the 28.4km team time trial at Perreux. Matteo Jorgenson (TVL) set their winning mark of 32:52, which put them 9 seconds ahead of Netcompany INEOS, with EF Education-EasyPost in third place at 29 seconds, which enabled Alex Baudin (EFE) to retain the race leader's yellow jersey.
Team Jayco AlUla set the best intermediate checks of the early starters and held the lead for most of the stage, UAE Team Emirates XRG among those beaten by the Australian squad.
The pace began to quicken among the later starters. Lidl-Trek, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe and then Movistar Team were all faster than the Australian team at the two intermediate checkpoints. Movistar improved on Jayco's time at the finish by 2 seconds, only for Lidl-Trek to knock another 20 seconds off that.
Out on the course, Netcompany INEOS scorched through the first checkpoint 13 seconds faster than Red Bull. Visma came through that point 3 seconds slower than the British team despite losing Wout van Aert (TVL) on the climb to that intermediate point.
Fastest by 20 seconds at the second check, Netcompany INEOS had to slow soon after when team leader Oscar Onley (NCI)'s chain dropped and the Scot had to stop pedalling in order to replace it.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike came through the second check 6 seconds slower, having suffered another key loss, Ben Tulett (TVL) dropped and forced to switch to a spare bike after puncturing.
Last team off EF Education-EasyPost were holding their own behind these two superteams. Eleven seconds down on the first check, they'd reduced that margin to just half a dozen seconds at the second check, giving Baudin a good shot at retaining yellow, which he would take full advantage of.
Onley and co-leader Kévin Vauquelin (NCI) finished together, setting a time 23 seconds faster than Lidl-Trek. Onley's chain issue had cost them some time, but how much remained to be seen.
After Bruno Armirail (TVL) and then Jørgen Nordhagen (TVL) had led Jorgenson onto the final ramp to the finish, the American finished stronger than anyone, beating Netcompany's mark by 9 seconds. Following sucesses in Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d'Italia, Team Visma | Lease a Bike's winning ways continue.
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