If you don't travel along the Mediterranean coast to reach the beautiful Violet Coast, there's only one way to cross from Spain to France: climb over the Pyrenees. And that's exactly what the Tour does today in its third stage, the Granollers - Les Angles covering 195.9 km with 3,850 meters of elevation.

to follow the live coverage of the entire stage starting at 12:05 CLICK HERE

Of course, there are Pyrenees and then there are Pyrenees, and the organizers certainly couldn't place any major climbs on the third day of racing, but the stage is still not easy because there will be very little flat terrain.

The first climb of the day - the Côte de Saint Feliu de Codines (7.6 km at 4.5%) - arrives after about ten kilometers and could represent ideal terrain for a breakaway to form, provided the big names in the peloton agree. Otherwise, expect a battle on the longest ascent, the Col de Toses, 9.3 km at 6.5%, with the summit at km 127. You climb to an elevation of 1,778 meters and you stay at altitude for both the Col du Calvaire 11.4 km at 4.1% and for the final section leading to Les Angles (1.8 km at 6.5%) where the final ramp will call upon the most explosive riders.

In summary, a stage that could develop in a hundred different ways, some of which truly unpredictable: you know how Pogacar is...

EMERGENCY. The final 44 kilometers, those to be tackled in French territory, up to the finish line will be disputed without spectators. This was ordered by the prefect of the Eastern Pyrenees due to a massive wildfire affecting the area: the flames are far from the race, but many law enforcement personnel are engaged with the emergency and the risk of new fires breaking out due to someone's carelessness is too high. So, everyone stay home or in bars watching television: in any case, we know it will be a special day.