Phoney war continues despite spectacular Stage 3 finish

Yesterday's third stage of the Tour de France proved to be anything but the boring stage predicted by many cycling pundits.

The first 165km rantrue to form with a small group of five riders forming shortly after the start and the peloton keeping a way eye on a gap that never rose to more than six minutes.

'Maybe this year will be Alaphilippe's year – although it seems more likely he'll continue his individual mission to pick off stage wins, while his team's GC effort coalesces around Spain's rising talent Enric Mas. Ominously Mas moved up to eighth overall just one second behind Thomas and six behind Bernal, the other Ineos contender.'

With just under 50km to go, and as some pundits were predicting might happen, Lotto-Soudal's breakaway specialist Tim Wellens took off. The Belgian has built himself a reputation for solo breaks launched 50km from the finish and for a while his prospects over lumpy terrain of pulling off an unlikely win looked positive. One bonus for Wellens was that he managed to mop up all the King of the Mountains points on offer on the four categorised climbs that preceded the finish.

On the final category 3 Cote de Mutigny climb he narrowly reached the summit ahead of Quick Step rider Julien Alaphilippe before stopping for a bike change, knowing his challenge was over. Alaphilippe's challenge had only just begun, however, and the diminutive Frenchman swooped down into Epernay in the heart of Champagne country and held on over the final 300m rise to the finish to claim a stylish victory.

Behind him it was carnage in the GC stakes as the top riders in the peloton went toe to toe with the top puncheurs, such as Peter Sagan and Greg van Avermaet, in a thrilling battle for second. That position eventually went to Sunweb's Michael 'Bling' Matthews who surged through at the last moment to nick the runner's-up spot, 26 seconds down on the Quick Step rider.

A slight gap of just over one second emerged between Ineos teammates Egan Bernal and defending champion Geraint Thomas - 12th and 13th on the stage – giving the Colombian a marginal gain of five seconds under the Tour's strict timing rules.

The lumpy run in to the finish split the peloton into two distinct groups 13 minutes apart, with Yellow Jersey holder Mike Teunissen one of those caught in the middle five minutes down on the lead pack. The deficit meant the Jumbo-Visma rider lost his grip on the iconic jersey which now sits on the slight shoulders of brightest star in France's cycling firmament.

Alaphilippe, still only 24 years old, showed he has all the talent needed one day for an assault on yellow. Maybe this year will be his year – although it seems more likely he'll continue his individual mission to pick off stage wins, while his team's GC effort coalesces around Spain's rising talent Enric Mas. Ominously Mas moved up to eighth overall just one second behind Thomas and six behind Bernal, the other Ineos contender.

Quick Step, whose full name is Deceuninck-Quick-Step but to most cycling fans will always be known as Quick Step, also have a competitive sprinter in Elia Viviani, which could mean their assault on this year's Tour de France is diluted by being split three ways. For now though Quick-Step will be united behind Alaphilippe and the Yellow Jersey. The Maillot Jaune has a habit of focussing a team's attention on the rider wearing it at the head of the race, at least until he loses it a day or two later.

Alaphilippe can expect to stay in Yellow now at least until Thursday's fearsome stage to La Planches Des Belles Filles. An inspired ride could mean he even keeps it there, which would mean the next threat to his primacy – spectacular breakaways aside – may not come until the individual time trial on Friday, July 19. By then two thirds of the race will be over - although the final week has a hideous schedule in the Pyrenees and the Alps, so any hopes of Alaphilippe making the podium in Paris still seem unlikely.

Today's fourth stage is almost as long as yesterday's 'transitional stage' but doesn't have the bumps at the end, so it will almost certainly end in a sprint. The slightly downhill finish will favour the fastest of sprinters, so Jumbo's Dylan Groenewald, if he has recovered from his crash on the opening stage, stands a good chance of opening his account. Sagan, now legitimately in the Green Jersey, is always a threat while other contenders include Caleb Ewan, Sonny Colbrelli, Viviani and Giacomo Nizzolo.

Matthews has shown he is in fine form, but he prefers an uphill finish like yesterday's stage, so a win for him today would be a surprise. The best of the serious GC contenders is Groenewald's Jumbo teammate Steven Kruijswijk. He is followed by the Ineos pair of Bernal and Thomas and Quick Step's Mas, Sunweb's Wilco Kelderman, Thibaut Pinot and Rigobert Uran. Uran's teammate, the former runner Michael Woods, is two places ahead of his Education First leader, while Tejay van Garderen is just one place behind the Colombian. So things are shaping up nicely.

The only team to have lost significant ground are Movistar who had a poor team time trial on Sunday. Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa, in 41st and 43rd, are both 1min 30secs down on Alaphilippe and 45 seconds down on Thomas. These gaps are retrievable in the high mountains but with Ineos's attention to detail you wouldn't want to gamble on it.

It seems the phoney war will continue for now.