FRANCE (Reuters) -Tim Merlier won the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday after a sprint finish that resulted in a number of riders crashing saw the Belgian edge just ahead of Jonathan Milan.

The Soudal Quick-Step rider needed a photo finish to confirm he ended narrowly in front of Italian Milan at the finish line in the coastal city of Dunkirk.

Germany's Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious was third, while Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel kept the yellow leader jersey after finishing in 23rd place.

The stage took a dramatic turn 60km from the end when Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen withdrew from the Tour following a heavy crash.

The peloton rode closely together for most of the 178.3 km flat stage from Valenciennes to Dunkirk.

Seemingly cautious, the riders held back from making any decisive moves, with nearly the entire group staying in the peloton until the final stretch, setting up a mass sprint finish that ended with several riders crashing in the closing metres.

"It was a really hard battle. It was difficult to be in position," Merlier said.

"I think from two kilometres I fought back from behind to come back in position, and I was in the wind all the time, and only with 500 metres to go I found a bit of slipstream. I know next to Milan is always difficult."

The messy finale saw two separate crashes within the last 3km with the first one bringing down several riders, including Geraint Thomas, Jordi Meeus and Remco Evenepoel.

Just ahead of the final corner, several riders lost control and went down, including Alexis Renard, Cees Bol, and Paul Penhoet, who chose to walk his bike across the finish line.

"I lost Bert (Van Lerberghe) before the last corner, but I must say the team did an incredible job in the last 5km, but then the real chaos started and it was really difficult to find position," Merlier added.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)