"Without races we can't do our job," shouts stage winner Arnaud De Lie, explaining why he continued in Bessèges (while some Lotto riders didn’t)

Arnaud De Lie won the third stage of the Ster van Bessèges. The young Belgian from Lotto was the best in a sprint after the race was disrupted early on due to another vehicle on the course. As a result, many teams abandoned the race, and only a small peloton remained. The Lie is also the new leader in the GC since eight teams dropped out.

Søren Waerenskjold won Thursday's stage. The big Norwegian of Uno-X Mobility was the fastest in a sprint of a depleted peloton, but that was not the main talking point afterward. With 17 kilometers to go, a car drove onto the course. The vehicle had to reverse, and the riders managed to avoid the car. But the harm was already done, as the riders had to apply the brakes, and a crash followed. Maxim Van Gils was the biggest victim: the Belgian had to abandon the race.

With some reluctance, the riders continued on their way today. Before they had been on their bikes for an hour, things went wrong again: at a roundabout, the pack ran into another car. The riders had had enough. They slammed on the brakes, and a discussion with race officials commenced. After a lengthy debate, the race continued anyway, but without eight teams: Soudal Quick-Step, INEOS Grenadiers, and Unibet Tietema Rockets, among others, decided not to continue.

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Remaining sprinters grab their chance in shortened stage

With about seventy men still in the race, the race continued, but it was shortened: because of safety and lost time, the last local lap was eliminated. As a result, the course was shorter and flatter. After the restart, cycling 'just' continued, and there was also an 'early' breakaway: Brit Oliver Knight (Cofidis) was joined by Valentin Retailleau (TotalEnergies), Hugo Aznar (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Antoine Hue (CIC-U-Nantes). They got some gap, but never much: the remaining sprint teams, especially Arkéa B&B Hotels, did work to keep the breakaway riders in sight.

The battle erupted in the hills of the final 40 kilometers: fewer teams means less control, and so it rained attacks (in addition to buckets of water). That eventually caused a shake-up: among others, Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), Pierre Latour, and Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) were in a six-man group. They made their way over to the leading group, so it was suddenly all hands on deck for the peloton. On the final slope, it came together again before De Lie sprinted to victory in the pouring rain.

De Lie defends the Star of Bessèges organization

After the race, the Belgian stage winner was remarkably kind to the organization, which thus saw its race decapitated after two incidents in a row. "It was a dilemma. The Star of Bessèges would probably have struggled to continue if everyone had stopped. So, I didn't ask myself the question to continue cycling. We respect the organizers; without races, we can't do our job."

In an official press release from his team, Lotto, De Lie continued, "I initially got into the car to warm up. Over the radio, we heard that if we didn't restart, it would be the end of the Etoile de Bessèges for good. That hit me. Rider safety comes first. A car on the course is unacceptable. But at the same time, races like these can only continue to exist because of the riders. It's thanks to these organizers that we have the opportunity to live our passion."

However, it was remarkable that not the entire Lotto team continued, but only De Lie and Baptiste Veistroffer. "We lost contact with the rest of our team amidst all the chaos. We were already moving forward again, while the others were preparing to head back to the team bus, just like many other teams. It was pure chaos. Around 60 continued. I hope I made the right choice. I also did it out of respect for the organizers—they have an incredibly tough job. And I won, in this weather—which I love—after such a crazy day. It felt a bit heroic. I'm really happy with this victory."

Stage 3 Star of Bessèges 2025:

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