Tour de France Stage 3: Mark Cavendish Wins Sprint

Photos

Tour de France 2009 : GRANS RD19

see larger image

uploaded by Alexandre Morvan

Thethird stage of the Tour de France completed with Mark Cavendish winning the sprint.  This stage was from Marsaille to La Grande-Motte.  A breakaway with about 30 km to go,  saw Team Columbia HTC  take advantage of the strong winds to open a gap from the peleton which eventually stretched to 39 seconds.  Lance Armstrong, who was riding in tenth place yesterday was alert to the breakaway and stayed with the group, moving his standing up to third overall.  Sprinter, Mark Cavendish chalked up his second stage win.  Fabian Cancellara rode with the leaders and will maintain his yellow jersey for another day.

While Stage 3 was considered a flat stage, there were a couple of short climbs.  The challenging factor today was the strong winds.  At the 50 km mark from the finish a Team Lampre rider was involved in a crash partly blamed on the wind which left him bloodied.

Tomorrow, Stage Four, is the much discussed Team Time Trial.  It will be taking place at Monpellier.  Lance Armstrong is predicting that the rebuilt Astana Team will be the winners of that challenge.