Peter Sagan (Total Energies) angrily waved his finger at Wout Van Aert after a fast sprint finish on stage 3.

Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) avoided the pair and cut down the middle of the road to take the stage win, with Van Aert finishing second and Yasper Philipsen (Alpecin Phoenix) in third.

Sagan bumped Van Aert's thigh twice in the final meters to keep the Belgian from getting him closer to the barriers, pointing his finger at him as soon as they crossed the line.

As Sagan showered and cooled down, some at Total Energy hoped that the UCI video assistant referee would intervene and punish Van Aert for moving from the middle of the road toward the barriers and Sagan. However, Sagan, in the yellow jersey, held on to second place and the 6-second time bonus increased his overall lead to 7 seconds.

Sagan was pleased to be in the sprint action after a harrowing spring at Total Energies and a third seizure of COVID-19, but was unimpressed with VanArt's move across the road.

He did, however, bite his tongue hard when he spoke to the media, including Cycling News, on the team bus.

"The judges are there, so I can't judge," Sagan said. 'As you can see from the images shown on TV at ....... I am glad I am still here safe and sound."

Sagan said.

Sagan was a bit less diplomatic when speaking in Italian, but had to accept the race referee's decision not to punish Van Art, even though others had received far less punishment in recent months.

"He certainly moved. I was already so close to the barrier that I had to push him back to keep him from touching it."

Sagan was asked if Van Art's move was dangerous. Sagan replied, "It was not dangerous, but it did damage the image of cycling."

As Sagan came up the right side of the road, Van Aert, Groenewegen, and Yasper Philipsen roared in the middle of the road. Sagan was nearly crushed by the barrier.

Van Art, meanwhile, said he was unaware of Sagan's concern.

Jean-Rene Bernadeau, manager of TotalEnergies, said that while he was disappointed that Sagan missed the victory, it was good to see Sagan upset.

"It's good to see Sagan not happy. He does that because he has legs, and the main thing is that he has found them," Bernaudeau suggested to French TV.

"The Tour has just begun and there will be other opportunities. He is probably the best sprinter when the going gets tough. He didn't win this time, but the good news is that Sagan is really good."