'I thought at one time we'd stop for a coffee' - Peter Sagan on the peloton's slow day

The Tour de France peloton averaged just 37.3kph on stage three, which saw the riders take six hours to complete the 223km stage

(Image credit: Watson)

The Tour de France peloton enjoyed a slow day through the countryside to Angers, France, where Mark Cavendish won stage three. Such was the pace, race leader Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) says he thought that the race was stopping for a coffee break.

Cavendish won his second stage in a fast finale ahead of German André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal). The 223.5-kilometre stage, however, lasted six hours and the riders rode at 37.26kph. In comparison, Cavendish won stage one at the end of a 188-kilometre stage where the peloton averaged 44.395.

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.