Tour de France 2025 - Stage 3: Voigt's preview: Watch out for the wind edge!

Stage 3 | Monday, 7 July 2025 | Valenciennes - Dunkerque | 178.3 kilometres | 800 vertical metres

Jens Voigt's assessment of stage 3

A day for the sprinters: The route is almost completely flat, with only one category 4 climb, the Côte de Cassel, 32 kilometres before the finish. But to make sure it doesn't get boring, the route planners from race organiser ASO have added a little surprise: The last few kilometres, from the mountain classification to the finish, lead through open countryside, without buildings, without forest. The route will be exposed to the wind. Caution, wind edge! is the motto today. We fans will be praying for wind, because it could make the race exciting and action-packed, while the riders will certainly be wishing for the opposite. The Côte de Cassel is the casus knacksus. If a team rides up the mountain with gusto, then you can ride the remaining 30 kilometres with one team, with four or five racers, at full throttle to the finish. Especially as you almost always automatically get a bit of help from the others in the front group in such a situation, because they are happy to be at the front and would like to keep a permanent distance from those behind.

If you have a 10 or 20 second lead at the top of the climb, it might be worthwhile to keep going. After that, everyone is in the same wind - so catching up will be difficult. My prediction: Not all the sprinters will be in contention for victory on the Rue de la Cunette in Dunkirk because they will be left behind or weakened by the race situation.

Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of stage 3 of the Tour de France 2025

• Neutral start: 13:10, sharp start 13:25
• Estimated arrival time: between 17:18 and 17:40
• TV broadcast: ARD 14:10-17:30, Eurosport 1 13:00-17:30
• Live stream: sportschau.de, Discovery Plus (fee required)
• All stages of the Tour de France 2025 at a glance

Highlights of the 3rd stage

• 16:35: Crux of the race? Now it's over the only categorised climb of the day on the Côte de Kassel. Will the peloton split here on the way to Dunkirk?
• 17:15: Which sprinters are still in the lead? What role will the wind play? The final starts now in Dunkirk (Dunkerque) near the North Sea coast.

TOUR expert Jens Voigt

Nobody in the German-speaking world knows the Tour de France better: Jens Voigt competed as a professional in the most important cycling race a total of 17 times between 1998 and 2014. Only the Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, the current record holder, has managed one more participation. Voigt knows the race from the perspective of the winner and the tireless helper in the team. He won two stages himself and wore the yellow jersey for one day each in 2001 and 2005. In 2010, as a team-mate in Team Saxo Bank, he accompanied Luxembourg's Andy Schleck to his overall victory (after the doping disqualification of Alberto Contador, who initially came first; editor's note). The 53-year-old Berliner currently works as a brand ambassador for the bike manufacturer Trek and as a pundit for the Eurosport channel.

For TOUR readers, the former pro gives his predictions for the course of the 21 stages, points out difficulties and things worth seeing. For each day's stage, he gives a tip on what role the course could play in the final standings in the individual classifications in Paris. If three of the jerseys are coloured, this means that this day could be decisive for this classification - i.e. overall classification (yellow), sprint/points classification (green) and classification of the best climber (red dotted jersey). We also give you the broadcast times of the TV channels in Germany (ARD and Eurosport) and their live streams - plus tips on when it might be particularly worth tuning in.