American Lauren Stephens (Cynisca) took control of the Tour de Normandie Féminin on stage 3, soloing to victory on the 136.8km stage from Coutances to Martinvast.
Stephens followed an attack by Italian Alessia Vigilia (FDJ Suez) as rain began to fall with 40km to go. Then, on a series of climbs with 25km to go, Vigilia lost touch, fought back, but then was dropped for good.
It was then up to Stephens to hold off the peloton. What had been a lead of more than a minute shrank but the Cynisca rider continued to fight.
Victoire Berteau (Cofidis) attacked with 12km to go and got away from the peloton with overnight leader Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) but couldn't catch Stephens. She finished seven seconds behind.
The peloton arrived 41 seconds down on Stephens, with Van Dijk holding onto a one-second lead over Berteau heading into the final stage.
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