Thor Hushovd Wins Third Tour de France Stage
The Tour de France continued to be troubled with crashes during the third stage, but it was Thor Hushovd who sprinted to victory when the 213km trail ended. This puts him third in the overall standings. The cobblestone race saw Geraint Thomas take second, putting him in second place overall.
Fabian Cancellara finished sixth in the third stage, but this was enough for him to regain the yellow jersey at the top of the overall standings. He said that he gave up the jersey yesterday but took it today. We can call this a good day for the team, despite losing a great friend in the race, he added.
This pushed a troubled Sylvain Chavanel from the top after only getting to wear the yellow jersey for a day. The Frenchmen had to deal with 2 flat tires and mechanical problems. Chavanel said that it’s not bad; he just didn’t have the legs. He had a nice day in yellow over the cobblestones; it’s great, he added.
The cobblestones also took a toll on Lance Armstrong, who was troubled with a flat tire as well. He has now dropped way down to eighteenth place in the overall standings.
The cobblestones have been billed as the biggest trouble on the Tour de France so far, and this comes after 2 straight days of crashes. On the fourth patch of the cobblestones, Frank Shleck crashed (the great friend Cancellara was talking about), which his team says puts him out of the race. He suffered a broken collarbone.
However, his brother, Andy Shleck, was able to finish the stage in fifth. He said that it was a good day for him, but not for his brother. He’s glad that only his collarbone was broken, he added.
As for the Tour’s defending champion, Alberto Contador, he finished thirteenth, putting him in ninth overall. Below is a better view of the standings and times for the top 10:
- Fabian Cancellara - 14h54′00”
- Geraint Thomas - +23”
- Cadel Evans - +39”
- Ryder Hesjedal - +46”
- Sylvain Chavanel - +1′01”
- Andy Schleck - +1′09”
- Thor Hushovd - +1′19”
- Alexandre Vinokourov - +1′31”
- Alberto Contador - +1′40”
- Jurgen Van Den Broeck - 1′41”
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