Sprinters Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) appeared to have put tensions aside after an angry moment between the pair arose during stage 2 of the Tour de France on Sunday.

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.

Tim Merlier won the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday after a sprint finish that resulted in a number of riders crashing saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Jonathan Milan.

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) were expected to contest the high-speed, winner-takes-all-sprint on stage 1 of the Tour de France but were left disappointed and apologetic after they missed the decisive split and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took the win and the first yellow jersey.

1. Tim Merlier, Belgium, Soudal Quick-Step, 4:16:55. 2. Jonathan Milan, Italy, Lidl-Trek, same time. 3. Phil Bauhaus, Germany, Bahrain Victorious, same time. 4. Soren Waerenskjold, Norway, Uno-X Mobility, same time.

Tim Merlier pipped Jonathan Milan on the line in a sprint finish to win a crash-marred stage three of the Tour de France. The Belgian edged the Italian by the slenderest of margins with Germany's ...