Sigrid Haugset of Uno-X Mobility won the third stage of the Tour de France Femmes on Monday and took the overall lead after a solo breakaway that covered the final 88 kilometres. The 27-year-old Norwegian champion crossed the line in Poligny in 4 hours, 5 minutes and 59 seconds, with Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky second at 1 minute 24 seconds.

Haugset attacked on the third categorised climb of the day, the Côte de la Savine, and quickly built an advantage that stretched beyond three minutes. Kopecky mounted a late chase and closed to within 10 seconds with 12 kilometres remaining, but Haugset held firm to claim her second professional victory.

The stage shattered the general classification. Lorena Wiebes, the Dutch sprinter who had dominated the opening two flat stages, was dropped on the first ascent, the 11-kilometre Col de la Faucille with gradients above 6%, and finished more than 18 minutes behind. The group of overall favourites, including France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and the Netherlands’ Demi Vollering, came in nearly three minutes after Haugset.

Wiebes had arrived at the race as the world’s pre-eminent sprinter, having won 54 of her last 55 bunch finishes and both stages in Switzerland. On stage 2 her SD Worx-Protime team had chased down a 39-kilometre solo move by Riejanne Markus, and Wiebes duly won the sprint. But the first mountain test exposed her limits and ended her hold on the yellow jersey.

Haugset now leads the general classification, with Kopecky, Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar and Vollering around two minutes adrift. The race continues on Tuesday with a 21-kilometre individual time trial from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon, a discipline expected to create the first significant gaps among the contenders for the final victory in Nice on 9 August.