American Tyler Farrar sprinted to his first individual Tour de France victory on Independence Day as Garmin-Cervelo registered back-to-back stage victories.
Mark Cavendish, who has 15 Tour de France stage wins to his name, looked primed to open his 2011 account but lost leadout man Mark Renshaw’s wheel after Cofidis rider Samuel Dumoulin crashed as the peloton steamed into the final kilometre, before recovering to sprint to fifth place.
But Garmin-Cervelo delivered Farrar to perfection, with yellow jersey holder Thor Hushovd providing the platform for the 27-year-old to beat Vacansoleil-DCM’s Romain Feillu and Movistar’s José Rojas to the line.
“NOT HAPPY!” wrote Cavendish on Twitter after the finish. “We came up a bit short so I tried to let some riders in @ 2km. Last corner tangled with Rojas & Feillu. Lost 30m. Salvaged 5th.”
After Classics specialist Philippe Gilbert won stage one and Jonathan Vaughters’ Garmin squad claimed their first-ever Tour stage win in the team time trial, Monday’s pan-flat finish looked primed for the fast men.
That left Frenchmen Maxime Bouet (AG2R) and Mickael Delage (FDJ), Spaniards Jose Gutierrez (Movistar) and Ruben Perez (Euskaltel), and Dutchman Niki Terpstra (Quick Step) to form the day’s customary break after just three of 198km.
Cavendish claimed maximum points from the intermediate sprint but both he and and Hushovd were both disqualified after making contact during the tustle.
Delage claimed the sole King of the Mountains point on the category four climb of the Pont Saint-Nazaire bridge which, when the peloton crossed, saw approximately 40 riders briefly chasing after crosswinds caused a split in the bunch.
HTC-Highroad’s train, so often a measure of perfection in setting up Cavendish for the sprint, moved to the front of the peloton with 15km remaning as Terpstra, Perez and Bouet were swept up by the bunch, while Gutierrez and Delage remained out front before being caught with 8.5km to the line.
Lampre took up shared duties in aid of their sprinter, 2009 green jersey winner Alessandro Petacchi, while Garmin-Cervelo and Team Sky, working with Tour debutant Ben Swift in mind, lurked with intent
But Cavendish lost Australian Renshaw’s wheel on the final left-hand bend leaving Sky’s Geraint Thomas, wearing the white jersey for best young rider, to attack, only for Swift to prove AWOL as well.
And world champion Hushovd took control from there, leaving Farrar to edge the sprint, crossing the line while making a ‘W’ with his hands in tribute to his friend Wouter Weylandt, who died during the Giro d’Italia.
Stage three
1. Tyler Farrar (USA/Garmin-Cervelo) – 4:40:21
2. Romain Feillu (FRA/Vacansoleil-DCM) – same time
3. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (SPA/Movistar)
4. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/Ag2r La Mondiale)
5. Mark Cavendish (GBR/HTC-Highroad)
6. Thor Hushovd (NOR/Garmin-Cervelo)
7. Julian Dean (NZ/Garmin-Cervelo)
8. Borut Bozic (SLO/Vacansoleil-DCM)
9. André Greipel (GER/Omega Pharma-Lotto)
10. Jimmy Engoulvent (FRA/Saur–Sojasun)
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15. Geraint Thomas (GBR/Team Sky)
44. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/Team Sky)
66. Ben Swift (GBR/Team Sky)
126. David Millar (GBR/Garmin Cervelo)
General classification
1. Thor Hushovd (NOR/Garmin-Cervelo) 9h 46m 46s
2. David Millar (GBR/Garmin-Cervelo) same time
3. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) +1″
4. Geraint Thomas (GBR/Team Sky) +4″
5. Linus Gerdemann (GER/Leopard-Trek) same time
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/Team Sky) same time
7. Frank Schleck (LUX/Leopard-Trek) same time
8. Andy Schleck (LUX/Leopard-Trek) same time
9. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN/Leopard-Trek) same time
10. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/Team Sky) same time
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17. Mark Cavendish HTC – Highroad @ 05″
23. Ben Swift Sky @ 11″
