Stage 3 is just plain crazy. The riders start with 40 km nearly completely paved before the remnants of a peloton that were able to stay together will hit another 20 km sector shortly afterwards. After another short sector there are 30 km of actual road before the final 20 km are completely paved again. Altogether this stage includes more cobbled km than Paris-Roubaix in less than half its distance, so it would be a surprise if a bigger group (or any group at all) gets to the finish line. And apart from the sheer amount of cobbles this is the final stage of a stage race, so the riders further back in the GC have to attack to gain positions and time, usually resulting in a race of sheer carnage. And as long as your team’s not competing here (or – even worse – your name’s on the startlist) it’s hard not to enjoy this race.
Oh, the favourites are to no one’s surprise mostly the same as in stage 1.
About 9 km into the race Madsen and Aebi tried to get away to form today’s break, but they’re already caught again after just tiring in the first sector. Also there are the first riders dropped from the peloton. It’s gonna be a long day for many riders …
At the first intermediate sprint (30 km into the race) Van Asbroeck takes the points in front of Zepuntke and Kolev. The peloton is down to 35 riders and there are nearly 10 km of cobbles in this sector.
When entering the next sector the peloton is down to 28 riders. Orue and U25 leader Habimana are among those dropped.
Richardson and Van Asbroeck were also dropped after punctures. This isn’t the race to come back after such a misfortune though.
Schäppi also punctured, but he made it back. Meanwhile Sheffield is dropped, leaving Heinrich as the last U25 contender in the front group.
The seconds (and points) at the second intermediate sprint go to Nareklishvili, Zepuntke and Lecourt De Billot.
Roosen is dropped at the end of the penultimate sector. The next about 30 km don’t have any cobbles, so it’s time to rest now.
No favourites gets any points at the last intermediate sprint. There are 26 riders left in the peloton. The first ‘chasers’ are nearly 5 minutes behind.
And that’s it with asphalted roads for today for the peloton when they enter the last paved sector with 25 km to go.
Ringheim punctures with 18 km to go! What a shame for the race leader to fall behind this way.
He made it back to the crumbling peloton, but he’ll surely have to pay for his efforts later. Meanwhile Richardson attacks with 14 km to go.
And with 8.5 km to go Zepuntke makes his move!
He quickly gets to Richardson, but both are brought back with 4.5 km to go. The peloton is down to 15 riders as a result though – and there are still some cobbles to ride to gain time.
But when the 12-man-peloton gets to the kite there have been no further attacks.
Zepuntke still does some damage in the last km and just rides everyone off his wheel to win the stage!
Moulingui and Kolev make it a double podium for their team – and the Gabonese should also win the GC! Van Lerberghe and Richardson finish in 4th and 5th.
Next are Orue, Teggart and Schäppi.
Then it’s Centrone, Nareklishvili, Zhupa and yellow jersey Ringheim in 9th to 12th. We’ll see how far he falls in the GC as it’s hard to guess how the gaps will be awarded.
Congratulations to Zepuntke for winning the final stage as expected. He will be disappointed nonetheless as no gaps were awarded for the first 12 riders, so the big favourite only finishes 4th in the GC (and 2nd in his team).
Moulingui wins the GC because of his bonus seconds from today. On a side note only 53 riders made the time limit in the end.
At least Zepuntke adds the points classification to his tally.
Heinrich wins the U25 classification by nearly 10 minutes.
[C2] Tour du Faso 
