The third stage of Paris-Nice challenged the riders in the team time trial. After 23.5 kilometres from Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire to Pouilly-sur-Loire, Team INEOS Grenadiers came out on top with a time of 26:40.16 minutes. The German team Lidl - Trek with Lennard Kämna came second, two seconds behind, while third place went to Decathlon CMA CGM (26.51.43 minutes). Red Bull - Bora-hansgrohe finished the time trial in fifth place, 20 seconds behind.

The organisers continued their innovative format from the previous year: the time was not counted after the fourth rider of a team as usual, but each rider was stopped individually. This of course opens up completely different tactical possibilities for the teams. The team time trial at the start of the Tour de France in Barcelona in July will also follow this format.

Front runner Luke Lamperti falls back

A fast course with many straights and only a few tricky bends awaited the riders on stage 3 - there were also two small hills to conquer. Race leader Luke Lamperti (EF Education - EasyPost) had to abandon his team early on and therefore had no chance of defending the yellow jersey. Instead, Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) jumped to the top of the overall standings. The Spaniard now leads ahead of the INEOS duo Kévin Vauquelin (+0:02) and Oscar Onley (+0:03).

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Paris-Nice 2026 - Results of the 3rd stage

How the 3rd stage of Paris-Nice 2026 went

Team Picnic PostNL was the first of the 22 teams to set off on the course and accordingly set the first fastest time at the finish with 28:19.07 minutes. However, it was already clear at the intermediate measuring point after 14 kilometres that Picnic PostNL would not be able to compete for the top places. Team Jayco AlUla was the second team to cross the finish line almost a minute faster (27:37.23 minutes).

UAE Team Emirates - XRG was once again significantly faster with a time of 27:17.28 minutes - the team was already the fifth team on the course.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike also started the race early and clearly beat UAE's time once again with 26.55.92 minutes - Jonas Vingegaard, Bruno Armirail and Davide Piganzoli crossed the finish line together. However, the Dutch team soon had to relinquish the lead: Decathlon CMA CGM, with Dan Hoole as the lone rider, was another four seconds faster at the finish (26.51.43 minutes).

Kévin Vauquelin leads INEOS to the finish line

Lidl - Trek was even faster, reaching the final metres with Mathias Vacek and Juan Ayuso, before Ayuso finally crossed the finish line in 26:42.63 minutes. However, INEOS Grenadiers was another strong team on the course, which was ultimately two seconds faster than Lidl - best time: 26.40.16 minutes. Kévin Vauquelin rode the final metres to the finish line as a soloist for INEOS. Before that, Joshua Tarling in particular played a major part in the victory.

EF Education - EasyPost was the last team to take to the track with front runner Luke Lamperti. However, Lamperti had to let go early on. His team ultimately had no chance of winning the day. The team finished in sixth place (+0:23 seconds).