The third stage was a 177 km road stage from Winchester to Bristol, which was won by Benoit Joachim, seeing Leon Van Bon lose his red leader's jersey to the stage winner. On the Irish front, Ciaran Power finished 42nd, while both Les McKay and Paul Butler were eliminated for finishing outside the time limit. Fitzgerald and McNena both featured in some of the time bonus sprints along the route, picking up 1 and 2 seconds respectively.
1. | Benoit Joachim | US Postal | 4h16'36" |
2. | David McKenzie | Linda McCartney | @ 14 " |
42. | Ciaran Power | Ireland | @ 04'16" |
82. | Padraig Quinn | Ireland | @ 12'06" |
84. | Michael Fitzgerald | Ireland | @ 19'24" |
92. | Michael McNena | Ireland | @ 50'49" |
Finished after Deadline of 5h07'55" (20%), and therefore emilinated: | |||
93. | Paul Butler | Ireland | @ 55'13" |
94. | Les McKay | Ireland | @ 55'13" |
Overall G.C. | |||
1. | Benoit Joachim | US Postal | 10h35'13" |
2. | Marc Wauters | Rabobank | @ 13" |
40. | Ciaran Power | Ireland | @ 05'01" |
80. | Padraig Quinn | Ireland | @ 13'35" |
83. | Michael Fitzgerald | Ireland | @ 21'10" |
92. | Michael McNena | Ireland | @ 51'43" |