Mathieu van der Poel has opted against protecting his yellow jersey on a crash-marred stage three of the Tour de France

He provided a lead out for his Alpecin-Fenix teammate Tim Merlier , who completed the job by winning the sprint to the line.

Van der Poel still remains top of the general classification, and Merlier says he did a double take when the yellow jersey came forward....



Primoz Roglic lost ground after crashing nine kilometres from the finish and defending champion Tadej Pogacar was held up by more chaos four kilometres from the end.

Caleb Ewan touched wheels with Merlier in the final sprint, bringing himself and Peter Sagan down.