Thor Hushovd wins third stage of Tour de France
Thor Hushovd won the third stage of the 2010 Tour de France at Arenberg Porte du Hainaut. Britain’s Geraint Thomas finished second while Cadel Evans took third.
Fabian Cansellara regained the yellow jersey, and he leads Thomas by 23 seconds, with Evans 39 seconds adrift.
The tricky route of 213 kilometres saw the Tour return to the cobblestones for the first time in six years. While many riders predicted their biggest challenge would be their fellow competitors, the adversary today turned out to be the pavé.
Like yesterday, there more crashes during today's action. Fränk Schleck is now out of the Tour with a broken collarbone as he lost control on the crown of the bend in the Sars-et-Rosieres section. Sylvain Chavanel and Lance Armstrong sustained punctures, with second stage winner Chavanel suffering twice.
David LeLay suffered a major crash with 95 kilometres to go, clipping the curb and hitting the ground hard. As a result of a collarbone injury, he became the eighth rider to pull out of the Tour. Along with LeLay, eight riders landed in a ditch before approaching the first lot of cobblestones.
Simon Gerrans of Team Sky also suffered a crash, sustaining an injury to his face as a result of being spiked by his own pedal. Jürgen Roelandts also crashed while going around a corner. “It will be great fun to watch, fun for TV but it won't be fun on the road,” said team manager of Saxo Bank Bjarne Riis ahead of today’s stage.
Yesterday saw one of the toughest days for the riders as several big names fell off thanks to treacherous race conditions. As well as rain, spilled oil from a motorbike which crashed before the peloton was believed to have been the cause.
Chavanel’s victory in the second stage yesterday was not the main talking point, however. Rather it was the protest the peloton decided to stage to not contest the second- place sprint finish, which saw the riders who managed to stay on two wheels crossing the finishing line nearly four minutes adrift.
Organised by prologue winner Cansellara, the protest divided the opinions of the riders. “What happened is not normal. Why would it be for Fabian to decide? I was not okay with this,” said Hushovd.
The Swiss rider got the praise of HTC-Columbia team manager Bob Stapleton. “Fabian is the big man of cycling physically, he is also the big man of cycling tactically.”
Milram manager Gerry van Gerwen was not too pleased. “The riders themselves made that decision, to show their respect for the crashed riders. But you must also see the other side. The fans who stand along the road to see cycling, and for the sponsors and the race organisers, who invest so much in the Tour de France - they also deserve respect,” he said.
The main contenders of Armstrong and Alberto Contador are in 15th and eighth in the overall standings after today’s stage.
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