Skoda Tour de Luxembourg – Highlights Stage 3 – Queen Stage and big battle for the GC contenders !

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L’étape reine de ce Skoda Tour de Luxembourg 2025 ! Avec la triple ascension dans le final de la terrible Montée de Niklosbierg (2.8 km à 9.3%), il fallait être très fort ce vendredi pour espérer s’imposer au Château de Vianden, où l’arrivée était jugée au sommet d’une ultime bosse pavée. Dans un jour sans, le porteur du maillot Jaune Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) n’a malheureusement pas tenu le choc, distancé par le rythme infernal de Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) dans l’avant-dernière difficulté du jour avant d’exploser par la suite. La sélection s’est ensuite faite naturellement sous l’impulsion d’un Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) impressionnant, et un groupe de douze costauds a émergé dans le final pour se jouer la gagne. Malgré une ultime tentative de Marc Hirschi (Tudor), finalement repris à seulement 150 mètres de la ligne, c’est Mattias Skjelmose qui s’est montré le plus fort à l’issue d’un dernier kilomètre explosif et palpitant !

Video : Skoda Tour de Luxembourg

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[Music] And so the dupdom brought us of course the king’s stage. There were princes here, but who on earth would be race royalty on this the pivotal day on the Scoda tour of Luxembourg. Some nervous times at the start, but glorious weather. The crowds out in force on what has been an absolutely beautiful day, but a hellish one for those who wanted to take on the bid for glory. Three laps of a punishing circuit destination ultimately the Vienden Castle. Pave up front and up front early on. Six hopefuls just wanting to assemble points in the King of the Mountains competition presumably, but the gap never an enormous one. moderated at first by EF Education Easy Post hoping that Carropaz, Albanazi, Ben Healey, big roster could actually feature towards the end. And then when we came onto the circuit, suddenly everyone realized just how tough this place can be. Hilly had been a winner in the past. Hershey gone strongly. But what about today? both of them here along with others as well that could really make a noise when indeed the rattling stopped and we got to the smooth section that would carry us well to heaven or maybe hell. DD was on site and indeed so was the sight of many riders in technical trouble. Punctures of plenty, not a nice thing. And so it was. We settled ourselves into a real grind and it was a battle of attrition. Good riders were being thrown out the back. Stephan Bisiger, one of those that went first. Papon out of the brake. Good nits found it too much. They would not be alone. A mighty test in this amazing race. Well, finally we were down to four up front. But honestly, the pelin itself was also being shredded. An ever diminishing group of hopefuls trying to take on this huge test at the end of the day. Doesn’t matter how big a mountain is, it’s how hard you ride into it. And some were prepared to do more work perhaps than others. Sauron Cra started on early his duty to wind in this break. Maybe have a dig for glory himself. And maybe Shos or Kagan Hart from Little Trek possibly Thomas Grinch good time trialist. Would he be minded to keep something back for the day after? They weren’t preserving anything, least of all the horses, you might say. And this roller coaster went on. Slowly but surely, we were getting nearer and nearer to the front. The chasing group would ultimately become the front group. And that is when the story would be told. The yellow jersey, our leader, Roman Gregoire finding himself in trouble. Over two minutes down, Ben Healey decided that he would try and bridge over, but we were getting very selective in the run to the Viennon Castle, an edifice that had been here since the year 275. Can you believe it? In 1925, they decided that hydro power might well be the way forward, hence the dam. That’s forward thinking. Meanwhile, going forward, having to Ben Healey kicked on, but who was in his wake? A wakeup call for the overall leader of this race and suddenly holes were opening up in the lifeboats of those who wanted to sail home today. The sunshine was glorious, the fans likewise. But one after the other, riders were being found out, particularly from the break that was thinning down. And then a very select group of superstars were assembling themselves in the chase. The pelatin split. More than that, it absolutely fractured who would be there at the end. We just didn’t know. Now Vayz Hershey, they were in a chase. Gregoire was going backwards as we mentioned and that gap was becoming a huge one. He was going to leaves the leader jersey. Healey himself also looked like he was struggling pedalling squares some might say, but that was the nature of the day. a glorious part of the world, our playground. But everyone’s eyes up front and suddenly UE team Emirates with McNelte, with Navias, with Micah of course as well. They were starting to get invested. Group armor, they were trying to bail out what looked like a sinking ship. Donov was the best of them as Gregoire went backwards. Well, whatever UEIE, Little Trek, Karma, Dathlon, EF, Education. There was so much to play for. It was time for our final lap. The Monte D Nicholas Pierre. Well, it’ be remembered long and hard for exactly that, being long and hard, especially if indeed you tried to get a gap. They were struggling back there. Well, that group of pre-race favorites were being shattered. Meanwhile, Mu dropped out and then dropped back into the fray. He decided to help out. Sa and Crow was struggling still not giving up Roman Gregoire but it was a question of damage limitation for those guys and suddenly we were getting a very very tight group of brothers up front. Marco Brea was in there big concert as well. this was going to be a battle royal. And then of course, well, Hershey joined his two teammates up front and decided that he would try and indeed stretch the legs of minds of everybody. He had Brena and Rondell up there. Micah got back in the fray. Squinch was starting to pedal and this became the head of the race. Well, just like Hydra, you chop off the head of Hydra and more threats develop and that’s exactly what we had. The threat was too much for some. Now Vayz looked like he was struggling a surprise. And then Hershey said, “To hell with this. I’m out of here.” And so he entered a hellish distance of 6.4 kilometers all on his own, a modest margin. Others didn’t panic. They had something perhaps left in the chamber. He was going for it in the dappled sunshine. Would it be a bright day for him? He knows this finish extraordinarily well. And he also knew maybe he’d gone too early. 800 m. He had a gap of just 9 seconds. Would it be enough to carry it all the way? No panic behind. Switch was doing a job, but on behalf of whom? That was the question. Toss was still in there. So was Brena Kess as well. Absolutely magnificent. and heartbreak for Hershey just coming into the last couple of bends on the pave. It all crumbled away from him. This was absolutely remarkable. Out of nowhere from team total energies, Jordan Jagger decided to come and join the pun. Matia Selmos launched. Jega was wrestling to try and get round those who were fading. Brena McNelte looked like he was in trouble. Navas was still here, but Scalmos, could he would he hold on into the last couple of corners. This was a proper wrestling match. And in the end, by the time we got to the line, the Little Trek man was able to hold off Jordan Jeat. What spirit? I mean, it was difficult final and Mark was really good. Uh, he was really strong and um it was difficult to catch him. Luckily uh Brandon started his sprint early and I could overtake in the last moment. Absolutely remarkable. Scale almost took it. Jeat disappointed. with Brad McNelte in third place ahead of Jonathan Navas. That spun out to some mighty moves overall, including, I’m afraid, a bad move for our leader, Gregoire down the order, but Shelmos, king of the hill, quite literally. 4 seconds clear of JGA and eight ahead of McNalty with a time trial coming up. All three of those could well thrive. [Music]