Jorgenson leads Visma’s bees to victory
June 9 th 2026 - 17:25
The team time trial set in Perreux on day 3 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 delivered the twists and thrills anticipated with the special format that will also serve as the opener of the Tour de France next month in Barcelona. Netcompany Ineos led the way at the intermediate checkpoints but Visma-Lease a Bike surged to victory after 28.4 kilometres of intense tactical racing. The Dutch team propelled Matteo Jorgenson for the uphill finale, the American leader eventually posting a time of 32:52 to take victory with a margin of nine seconds over their British rivals. EF Education-EasyPost round out the podium with Alex Baudin successfully defending his yellow and blue leader’s jersey after losing 29 seconds.
After a mountain stage to kick off the race on Sunday and a hilly marathon on stage 3, the riders face another challenge on stage 3 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: a 28.4 km team time trial around Perreux, with several ups and downs. The stage uses a format tried and tested on the roads of Paris-Nice, which will also serve as an opener to the Tour de France 2026, in Barcelona.
The stage standings are established with the time of each team’s best rider. For the general classification, riders who finish with the first rider from their team will be credited with the same times. Others will have their own time.
Jayco AlUla make a strong impression
The battle begins with Picnic PostNL, who set an early pace that is quickly overtaken by Lotto Intermarché, and then by NSN.
Whilst the first three teams in contention are not the most high-profile for this discipline, Jayco AlUla go into the race as specialists – a reputation they live up to. On the final climb, Michael Matthews finish the job to enable his team to be the first to break the 50 km/h barrier (50.45 km/h), whilst his leader Luke Plapp capitalise on the collective effort to preserve his chances of shining in the general classification.
Lidl-Trek raise the bar
The time set by the Australians withstands the challenge from Santiago Buitrago’s Bahrain Victorious, who finish 11 seconds behind, as well as that of UAE Emirates-XRG, whose leader Isaac Del Toro drops 7 seconds.
Movistar manage to beat Jayco AlUla’s benchmark with a strong performance capped off by Cian Uitjtdebroeks. But the Belgian’s 33’44’’ effort is broken by the riders from Lidl-Trek, who raise the bar even higher with Mattias Skjelmose and Juan Ayuso reaching the finish with and average speed of exactly 51 km/h (33:24).
Jorgenson attacks, Baudin defends
The two main favourites ahead of the stage, Netcompany Ineos and Visma-Lease a Bike, start in quick succession. The British squad lead the way at the intermediate checkpoints (3’’ on their Dutch rivals after 8 km, 6’’ at km 15.8) but Oscar Onley struggles with his chainring, forcing the team to momentarily decrease the pace. They nonetheless beat Lidl-Trek by 23 seconds… But Matteo Jorgenson posts a time of 33:52 (9 seconds faster) for Visma-Lease a Bike!
In their wake, EF Education-EasyPost impress with their effort on the day after they successfully defended Alex Baudin’s yellow and blue leader’s jersey over more than 230 kilometres. The Frenchman crosses the line with a loss of 29 seconds (3rd best time) and thus retains the overall lead with a margin of 12 seconds on Kévin Vauquelin and Onley.