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Matilda Price

Pays de la Loire Tour: Alexander Kamp sprints to first victory for three years on stage 3, moves into race lead

Alexander Kamp celebrates at finish line as stage winner ahead of Antoine L'Hote and Gabriele Bessega during the 72nd Region Pays De La Loire Tour 2026, Stage 3 .

Alexander Kamp (Uno-X Mobility) sped to victory on stage 3 of the Pays de la Loire Tour, outpowering a breakaway of six on the fast uphill finish.

Gabriele Bessega (Polti VisitMalta) finished second, whilst Antoine L'Hote (Decathlon CMA CGM), the instigator of the late breakaway, settled for third.

It was a hilly, punchy finish set on laps around Sainte-Suzanne-et-Chammes, which made for an attacking finale, and a reduced group battled for the win after forming in the final 5km.

Race leader and winner of the first two stages, Ethan Vernon (NSN) was dropped on the tough final lap and ceded the leader's jersey.

Kamp now leads the GC by two seconds over Bessega and four over L'Hote, with only 14 seconds separating the top 10 with another punchy day to come to close the race on Friday.

The third stage of the Pays de la Loire Tour rolled out from Avrillé for 199km of racing, with some small climbs and a kick up to the line.

Early on, a breakaway of six riders got away: Ellande Larronde (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Maël Guégan, Similien Hamon (both CIC Pro Cycling Academy), Baptiste Gillet (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur), Morne Van Niekerk (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) and Kévin Avoine (Van Rysel Roubaix). They quickly built a lead of four minutes and stayed comfortably out front for the first 100km.

Going into the second 100km, the pace in the peloton started building, and therefore the gap began to shrink, and the front group started to splinter. Despite a bridge from two strong riders from the peloton, including Tom Donnenwirth (Groupama-FDJ United), the leaders were reeled back in with 40km to go.

The catch gave way for another nine-rider group to counterattack, led again by Donnenwirth and some strong companions, but they weren't away for long either.

On the final lap, Corbin Strong (NSN) went for the bonus seconds, which strung out the peloton and saw riders like double stage winner and race leader Ethan Vernon get dropped. Antoine L'Hote (Decathlon CMA CGM) took the chance to attack and built a lead of 20 seconds with 11km to go, chased by a smaller group and the reduced peloton.

The chasers caught L'Hote with 5km to go, making it a group of six into the finale. On the final rise to the line, the peloton had them within view, but couldn't quite make the catch. Sorarrain (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) led out the sprint, but probably started too early, as Kamp came from third wheel to fly to the win, whilst Sorarrain and Thomas missed out on the top three.

The race concludes on Friday with a final medium hilly stage between Brûlon and Le Mans.

Stage 3 Results

Pos

Rider

Time

1

Alexander Kamp (Den) Uno-X Mobility

4:37:03

2

Gabriele Bessega (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

4:37:03

3

Antoine L'Hote (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM

4:37:03

4

Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis

4:37:03

5

Gorka Sorarrain Agirrezabala (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4:37:03

6

Killian Theot (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

4:37:03

7

Corbin John Strong (NZl) NSN Cycling Team

4:37:09

8

Ewen Costiou (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

4:37:09

9

David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Pinarello-Q36.5

4:37:09

10

Clement Venturini (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets

4:37:09

11

Lander Loockx (Bel) Unibet Rose Rockets

4:37:09

12

Joppe Heremans (Bel) Van Rysel Roubaix

4:37:09

13

Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Totalenergies

4:37:09

14

Dario Igor Belletta (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

4:37:09

15

Louis Hardouin (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

4:37:09

16

Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis

4:37:09

17

Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4:37:09

18

Adrien Maire (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets

4:37:09

19

Xabier Berasategi Garmendia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi

4:37:09

20

Sergi Darder Gari (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4:37:09

21

Elias Maris (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

4:37:09

22

Mathis le Berre (Fra) Totalenergies

4:37:09

23

Paul Penhoet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

4:37:09

24

Lucas Beneteau (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

4:37:09

25

Léandre Lozouet (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

4:37:09

26

Martin Marcellusi (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

4:37:09

27

Siebe Deweirdt (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

4:37:09

28

Mirco Maestri (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

4:37:09

29

Jonas Hem Hvideberg (Nor) Uno-X Mobility

4:37:09

30

Davide Bais (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

4:37:09

31

Valentin Ferron (Fra) Cofidis

4:37:09

32

Sam Maisonobe (Fra) Cofidis

4:37:09

33

Milan Lanhove (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

4:37:09

34

Killian Verschuren (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets

4:37:09

35

Noa Isidore (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM

4:37:09

36

Senne Thonnon (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

4:37:09

37

Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

4:37:09

38

Axel van der Tuuk (Ned) Euskaltel-Euskadi

4:37:09

39

Thomas Champion (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

4:37:09

40

Lorenzo Conforti (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

4:37:09

41

Joris Chaussinand (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

4:37:09

42

Alastair Mackellar (Aus) EF Education-EasyPost

4:37:20

43

Filippo Magli (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

4:37:22

44

Andrea Pietrobon (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

4:37:26

45

Milan van den Haute (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

4:37:31

46

Milan Vader (Ned) Pinarello-Q36.5

4:37:38

47

Owen Geleijn (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets

4:38:20

48

Dion Allan Smith (NZl) NSN Cycling Team

4:38:27

49

Henrik Pedersen (Den) Uno-X Mobility

4:38:35

50

Walter Calzoni (Ita) Pinarello-Q36.5

4:38:35

51

Filippo Ridolfo (Ita) Novo Nordisk

4:38:35

52

Tobias Svarre (Den) Uno-X Mobility

4:38:35

53

Mathias Sanlaville (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

4:38:35

54

David Lozano Riba (Spa) Novo Nordisk

4:38:35

55

Ethan Vernon (GBr) NSN Cycling Team

4:38:35

56

Xabier Isasa Larrañaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi

4:38:35

57

Clément Davy (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

4:38:35

58

Noah Hobbs (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost

4:38:35

59

Gianluca Pollefliet (Bel) Decathlon CMA CGM

4:38:35

60

Pierre Gautherat (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM

4:38:35

61

Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

4:38:35

62

Simon Guglielmi (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

4:38:35

63

Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Totalenergies

4:38:35

64

Léandre Huck (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

4:38:58

65

Quinten Hermans (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5

4:39:04

66

Miguel Marin Martinez (Col) Ef Education - Aevolo

4:39:26

67

Nate Pringle (NZl) Decathlon Cma Cgm Development Team

4:42:47

68

Sam Brand (GBr) Novo Nordisk

4:42:47

69

Javier Ibañez Beltran de Salazar (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4:43:13

70

Kévin Avoine (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

4:43:41

71

Marco Manenti (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

4:44:24

72

Nolan Huysmans (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

4:44:24

73

Andrea Peron (Ita) Novo Nordisk

4:44:24

74

Baptiste Gillet (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

4:44:24

75

Victor Guernalec (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

4:44:24

76

Alexander Konijn (Ned) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

4:44:24

77

Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

4:44:24

78

Morné van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

4:44:24

79

Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Totalenergies

4:44:24

80

Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Cofidis

4:44:24

81

Valentin Retailleau (Fra) Totalenergies

4:44:24

82

Louis Rouland (Fra) Cofidis

4:44:24

83

Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Pinarello-Q36.5

4:45:12

84

Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) NSN Cycling Team

4:46:14

85

Nicholas Schultz (Aus) NSN Cycling Team

4:47:27

86

Maël Guegan (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

4:47:45

87

Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

4:48:27

88

Ellande Larronde (Fra) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4:48:36

89

Jason Tesson (Fra) Totalenergies

4:48:55

90

Sam Bennett (Irl) Pinarello-Q36.5

4:49:04

91

Robbe Ghys (Bel) Decathlon CMA CGM

4:49:07

92

Laurens Huys (Bel) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

4:50:07

93

Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

4:50:27

94

Titouan Fontaine (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

4:50:27

95

Lucas Dauge (Fra) Novo Nordisk

4:50:27

96

Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Polti-VisitMalta

4:50:27

97

Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

4:50:27

98

Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

4:50:27

99

Santiago Ferraro (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

4:50:27

100

Paul Hennequin (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi

4:50:27

101

Dylan Massa (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

4:50:27

102

Joes Oosterlinck (Bel) Van Rysel Roubaix

4:50:27

103

Similien Hamon (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

4:50:27

104

Stian Fredheim (Nor) Uno-X Mobility

4:50:43

105

Erlend Blikra (Nor) Uno-X Mobility

4:50:43

106

Jake Stewart (GBr) NSN Cycling Team

4:51:05

DNF

Lewis Bower (NZl) Groupama-FDJ United

DNF

Yago Aguirre Subijana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi

OTL

Colin Savioz (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets

4:57:12

DNS

Louis Sutton (GBr) Euskaltel-Euskadi

General classification after stage 3

Pos

Rider

Time

1

Alexander Kamp (Den) Uno-X Mobility

11:57:21

2

Gabriele Bessega (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

11:57:23

3

Antoine L'Hote (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM

11:57:25

4

Martin Marcellusi (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

11:57:30

5

Lander Loockx (Bel) Unibet Rose Rockets

11:57:32

6

Killian Theot (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

11:57:32

7

Gorka Sorarrain Agirrezabala (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

11:57:32

8

Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis

11:57:32

9

Axel van der Tuuk (Ned) Euskaltel-Euskadi

11:57:32

10

Corbin John Strong (NZl) NSN Cycling Team

11:57:35

11

Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis

11:57:36

12

Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Totalenergies

11:57:37

13

Clement Venturini (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets

11:57:38

14

Xabier Berasategi Garmendia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi

11:57:38

15

Sergi Darder Gari (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

11:57:38

16

Joppe Heremans (Bel) Van Rysel Roubaix

11:57:38

17

Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

11:57:38

18

Paul Penhoet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

11:57:38

19

Dario Igor Belletta (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

11:57:38

20

Mathis le Berre (Fra) Totalenergies

11:57:38

21

Louis Hardouin (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

11:57:38

22

Mirco Maestri (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

11:57:38

23

Ewen Costiou (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

11:57:38

24

Noa Isidore (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM

11:57:38

25

Senne Thonnon (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

11:57:38

26

Léandre Lozouet (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

11:57:38

27

Lorenzo Conforti (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

11:57:38

28

Siebe Deweirdt (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

11:57:38

29

Davide Bais (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

11:57:38

30

Valentin Ferron (Fra) Cofidis

11:57:38

31

Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

11:57:38

32

David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Pinarello-Q36.5

11:57:38

33

Lucas Beneteau (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

11:57:38

34

Milan Lanhove (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

11:57:38

35

Killian Verschuren (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets

11:57:38

36

Elias Maris (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

11:57:38

37

Joris Chaussinand (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

11:57:38

38

Sam Maisonobe (Fra) Cofidis

11:57:38

39

Adrien Maire (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets

11:57:38

40

Thomas Champion (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

11:57:38

41

Jonas Hem Hvideberg (Nor) Uno-X Mobility

11:57:38

42

Alastair Mackellar (Aus) EF Education-EasyPost

11:57:49

43

Filippo Magli (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

11:57:51

44

Andrea Pietrobon (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta

11:57:55

45

Milan van den Haute (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

11:58:00

46

Milan Vader (Ned) Pinarello-Q36.5

11:58:07

47

Ethan Vernon (GBr) NSN Cycling Team

11:58:44

48

Owen Geleijn (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets

11:58:49

49

Simon Guglielmi (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

11:58:57

50

Noah Hobbs (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost

11:59:00

51

Mathias Sanlaville (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

11:59:04

52

Gianluca Pollefliet (Bel) Decathlon CMA CGM

11:59:04

53

Filippo Ridolfo (Ita) Novo Nordisk

11:59:04

54

Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

11:59:04

55

Pierre Gautherat (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM

11:59:04

56

Xabier Isasa Larrañaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi

11:59:04

57

Henrik Pedersen (Den) Uno-X Mobility

11:59:04

58

Clément Davy (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

11:59:04

59

Walter Calzoni (Ita) Pinarello-Q36.5

11:59:04

60

David Lozano Riba (Spa) Novo Nordisk

11:59:04

61

Tobias Svarre (Den) Uno-X Mobility

11:59:04

62

Quinten Hermans (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5

11:59:33

63

Léandre Huck (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

11:59:58

64

Dion Allan Smith (NZl) NSN Cycling Team

12:02:09

65

Sam Brand (GBr) Novo Nordisk

12:03:16

66

Miguel Marin Martinez (Col) Ef Education - Aevolo

12:03:40

67

Kévin Avoine (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix

12:04:03

68

Nate Pringle (NZl) Decathlon Cma Cgm Development Team

12:04:27

69

Alexander Konijn (Ned) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

12:04:53

70

Marco Manenti (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

12:04:53

71

Nolan Huysmans (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise

12:04:53

72

Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

12:04:53

73

Victor Guernalec (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

12:04:53

74

Morné van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

12:04:53

75

Andrea Peron (Ita) Novo Nordisk

12:04:53

76

Baptiste Gillet (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

12:04:53

77

Louis Rouland (Fra) Cofidis

12:04:53

78

Valentin Retailleau (Fra) Totalenergies

12:05:14

79

Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Totalenergies

12:06:23

80

Nicholas Schultz (Aus) NSN Cycling Team

12:07:56

81

Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) NSN Cycling Team

12:08:48

82

Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

12:08:56

83

Maël Guegan (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

12:09:02

84

Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Cofidis

12:09:21

85

Jason Tesson (Fra) Totalenergies

12:09:24

86

Sam Bennett (Irl) Pinarello-Q36.5

12:09:29

87

Laurens Huys (Bel) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

12:10:36

88

Santiago Ferraro (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

12:10:55

89

Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Polti-VisitMalta

12:10:56

90

Joes Oosterlinck (Bel) Van Rysel Roubaix

12:10:56

91

Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber

12:10:56

92

Erlend Blikra (Nor) Uno-X Mobility

12:11:00

93

Similien Hamon (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy

12:11:46

94

Jake Stewart (GBr) NSN Cycling Team

12:12:22

95

Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

12:12:25

96

Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Totalenergies

12:13:09

97

Javier Ibañez Beltran de Salazar (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

12:13:42

98

Ellande Larronde (Fra) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

12:14:23

99

Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

12:16:15

100

Paul Hennequin (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi

12:16:15

101

Titouan Fontaine (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United

12:16:15

102

Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Pinarello-Q36.5

12:16:41

103

Robbe Ghys (Bel) Decathlon CMA CGM

12:16:59

104

Dylan Massa (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur

12:18:56

105

Lucas Dauge (Fra) Novo Nordisk

12:20:27

106

Stian Fredheim (Nor) Uno-X Mobility

12:22:28

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