Nothing happened for a long time on the 163 kilometres between La Gacilly and Angers. In the finale, however, things became explosive again. Just over three kilometres before the finish, a crash in a bend at the front of the peloton resulted in the peloton being torn into several pieces. Demi Vollering (FDJ - Suez) was one of the riders who was hit the hardest. Team-mates had to push her in the first few metres after the crash and she reached the finish more than six minutes behind. However, the five-kilometre rule was applied, meaning that the top favourite for overall victory was counted at the same time as all the other crash victims and those held up.

And like the day's winner Wiebes. Around 20 women made the cut in the crash - including the top sprinters. And so the firm favourite to win the day prevailed against Marianne Vos (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) by a bike length. Ally Wollaston (FDJ - Suez) came third with a gap of several metres. Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) also avoided the crash and finished fifth.

The woman in yellow, Kimberly Le Court (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) was at least held up and crossed the finish line with the first group of followers. The 38-year-old took the jersey back from the woman from Mauritius thanks to the bonus seconds that Vos earned as second on the day. She gave her green jersey to Wiebes, who celebrated the 108th victory of her career. Elise Chabbey (FDJ - Suez) successfully defended the mountains jersey.

"I didn't notice the crash, I was fully focussed on the sprint," explained the winner. "There was really a lot going on in the final and now I understand why. I could hardly wait to start the sprint, because we had been working towards it for 160 kilometres. Maybe that's why I started a bit too early, but in the end it went well."

Tour de France Femmes 2025 - Results of the 3rd stage

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How the 3rd stage of the Tour de France Femmes 2025 went

The third stage of the Tour de France Femmes started with only 146 riders left, because after Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) and Charlotte Kool (Team Picnic - PostNL) had already withdrawn on the previous days, Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) followed suit. Like the other two women, the Italian had already started the Tour with an injury.

There were several attempts to break away from the field with an attack in the first few kilometres. Justine Ghekire (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) was just as much an asset as Franziska Brauße (CERATIZIT Pro Cycling Team) or Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck), but even after 20 kilometres nobody had been able to break away decisively. Subsequently, however, the quartet of Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), Sara Martin (Movistar), Clémence Latimier (Akéa - B&B Hotels Women) and Catalina Soto Campos (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) managed to break away from the peloton.

By the time they reached the first mountain classification on the Cote de la Richardière (category 4), the lead over the field had grown to three minutes. Jackson secured two points at the top. Subsequently, the lead levelled off at around four minutes, which had shrunk to a good two and a half minutes by the late intermediate sprint 38 kilometres before the finish. Jackson took the points from the group, while Wiebes won ahead of Vos in the peloton.

Calm stage turns wild due to mass crash around Vollering

The high pace after the sprint combined with the tailwind meant that several teams tried to break away from the peloton. Demi Vollering (FDJ - Suez) herself was in the wind, but was ultimately unable to create any gaps.

Eight kilometres before the finish, the lead was almost used up, which also led to the end of the cooperation in the group. 2000 metres later, the peloton, led by SD Worx, had finally closed the gap.

Then, 3.3 kilometres before the finish, there was a crash in a bend. Vollering was hit the hardest, who was later partially pushed to the finish line by her team-mates and only rolled in six minutes after the winner. However, due to the 5-kilometre sprint zone, the same time applied to everyone. Overall, however, the field was completely torn apart, with only 20 riders in the head group, all of them sprinters. And in the end, as expected, it was Wiebes who took the day's victory, even if it was close.