DUNKIRK, (France): Belgian Tim Merlier pipped Italian Jonathan Milan right at the line to win stage three of the Tour de France at Dunkirk on Monday, as Mathieu van der Poel retained the race lead.

The stage was marred by a series of falls, but the two favourites for the title Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished safely in the main pack and remain in second and third place overall behind Van der Poel.

The flat 179km run from Valenciennes along the Belgian border was marked above all by a nasty fall that caused Jasper Philipsen to quit with severe grazing and a suspected fracture.

The fall happened during an intermediate sprint 60km away from Dunkirk and ripped the green best sprinter's jersey from Philipsen's back as he slid along the road in the 70kph crash.

Much of what Philipsen's team Alpecin had planned for the Tour revolved around the sprinter, team-mate Van der Poel revealed.

"It's always one of our goals to win stages so this is a bad day," the 30-year-old said.

Van der Poel suggested the wind had emboldened the sprinters.

"In a head wind it's easier to come from behind in the sprints, it made things more chaotic," he said.

There were three more falls, including two nasty looking ones in the finale with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, Merlier's teammate, involved.

Merlier, 32, grew up just over the border from Dunkirk and had been hoping to win the opening stage on Sunday (July 6).

"That was a mess," Merlier said of the falls. "I lost a great deal of energy getting in position but it was a good bike throw. I knew I'd beat Milan."

Lidl-Trek's Milan led over most of the final 150m, but even without sealing the stage win his efforts were still rewarded as he inherited the green sprint points jersey from the stricken Philipsen.

Van der Poel in the leader's yellow jersey is the grandson of French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who came second in the Tour de France seven times, but never won and never got to don the yellow tunic.