The early stages of the Tour de France have been marred by crashes, forcing top riders, including sprint leader Jasper Philipsen, to withdraw. Despite safety measures introduced by cycling's governing body,

Belgian rider Tim Merlier has won the crash-marred third stage of the Tour de France in a photo finish and Mathieu Van der Poel has kept the yellow jersey.

A three-week Grand Tour will always contain natural ebbs and flows, and, for much of Monday’s stage between Valenciennes and Dunkirk, it looked as if the peloton had declared an unofficial rest day, with the riders happy to cruise back towards the coast after a weekend of wind, rain and intensity.