This page contains the stage podium, the race story, GC implications after the stage, and per-rider performance. Read no further if you intend to watch this stage unspoiled.
A mass crash inside the final 2 km tore the peloton apart, and Laurence Pithie sprinted clear of the survivors for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe to win in Vaux-sur-Sûre on a slight uphill drag to the line.
Stage 3 from Habay to Vaux-sur-Sûre (176.9 km) was a mostly flat day pointed at the sprinters and puncheurs, with a slight rise to the line making for a tricky finish. The day's breakaway — Jonah Killy, George Wood, Álvaro Sagrado, Filippo Conca, Jarno Bellens and Senne Thonnon — never threatened and was reeled in just outside the final 10 km. With every team saving its cards for a bunch sprint, a crash just outside the final kilometre split the peloton completely, leaving only a handful of riders at the front. Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe had numbers there: Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel drove the lead-out and Laurence Pithie sprinted to victory, beating INEOS's Kim Heiduk to the line with Krists Neilands (NSN) third. All three picked up valuable bonus seconds for the overall.
The crash and the bonus seconds reshuffled a GC already separated by only a few seconds. Kim Heiduk took over the race lead heading into stage 4, holding a three-second margin over Jordi Meeus, Ben Oliver and Laurence Pithie — leaving the overall poised for the bonus-second skirmishes of the final two days.
Rather than chasing the win himself, Meeus turned lead-out man, working with Danny van Poppel to deliver Laurence Pithie through the chaos of the crash-split finale. It was a selfless ride from the stage-1 winner that kept Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe at the front of both the stage and the GC, with Meeus himself still inside three seconds of the new race leader.
A mass crash just outside the final kilometre brought down much of the peloton, splitting the bunch and leaving only a small front group to contest the sprint.