Belgian team Alpecin-Deceuninck could turn to Australian Kaden Groves to lead its Tour de France push after stage one winner Jasper Philipsen was forced to abandon his race after breaking his collarbone.
Belgian rider Tim Merlier won the crash-marred third stage in a photo finish and Mathieu Van der Poel kept the yellow jersey.
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar and two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard — the main contenders — finished safely as they rolled in together with the main pack.
But stage one winner Philipsen abandoned after he broke a collarbone in one of the early crashes.
"Philipsen was the victim of something he had nothing to do with," Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Philip Roodhooft said.
"We can't blame the other two directly, either. It was just a stupid crash, something that unfortunately can happen in cycling. And unfortunately, Jasper is paying the price."
Roodhooft said the team may turn to Groves to lead its campaign, with the Australian currently sitting in seventh.
"It's still too early to say what we're going to do, but we have other good riders. I'm thinking of Kaden Groves, but now is not the time to talk about that," Roodhooft said.
"Jasper is still suffering from burns and has been badly bruised, so how we proceed is not the most important thing right now. We have to keep going, and Jasper will want that too, but I'm putting that discussion on hold for now."
Merlier just got the front of his wheel in front of Italian Jonathan Milan as they lunged to the line to finish the stage. German rider Phil Bauhaus was third.
It was Merlier's second career stage win on the Tour, four years after his first, which also came on stage three.
"It was a big battle and it was difficult to maintain my position, I came from very far back in the last 2 kilometres," he said.
"When I found myself next to Milan, I knew it would be complicated to beat him."
Van der Poel, who rides for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, did not contest the sprint the day after narrowly beating Pogacar to win Sunday's rainy and hilly second stage.
Riders set off in wet conditions and wore light rain jackets on a 178km flat route from Valenciennes to coastal Dunkerque.
The pace was slower than the two first days but the conditions were treacherous and, about 50km from the end, Philipsen was knocked over by Frenchman Bryan Coquard and landed heavily on his side. Coquard was not to blame, however, as he lost balance only after being clipped by a rider overtaking him on the right.
Beside his broken right collarbone, Philipsen might have two broken ribs, his Alpecin–Deceuninck team said, adding he needed surgery.
Coquard looked remorseful when he spoke to media outside the Cofidis team bus after the stage.
"I've seen the images again, I really didn't know what happened in the moment," he said.
"I would like to say sorry to Philipsen and Alpecin, even if it was not an intentional act."
Another crash with 3 kilometres left felled double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, who was able to continue.
Then, with the finish in sight, a few more crashed — including Coquard, who somersaulted off his bike.
The 174km fourth stage is another hilly one for all-rounders like Van der Poel and his former cyclo-cross rival Wout van Aert. It starts from Amiens and ends with five consecutive small climbs to the Normandy city of Rouen.
This race is entirely in France, with no stages held abroad as in previous years, and ends on July 27 in Paris.
AP/ABC
