Live Comments
17:15 - Thanks for following today's coverage of stage 3 on eurosport.yahoo.com. Join us tomorrow for live coverage of stage 4.
17:15 - Cavendish has also extended his lead in the points classification. He is now on 70 points, 16 clear of Thor Hushovd, who is on 54 points. Samuel Dumoulin moves to 34 points.
17:09 - In the general classification, Cancellara is now 33 seconds clear of Tony Martin, and 40 clear of Lance Armstrong. Alberto Contador is fourth, 59 seconds back.
17:07 - The chasing group crosses the finish line 40 seconds behind the lead group! The only real loser will be Contador, whose status as team leader will come under considerably scrutiny once again.
17:04 -
0km - Mark Cavendish wins from Thor Hushovd!!! His second stage win of the Tour de France this year, and sixth overall! Fantastic stuff from the entire Columbia team. Cyril Lemoine (Skil-Shimano) was third, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) was 4th, and Jérome Pineau (Quick Step) was fifth.17:04 - 500m - Mark Renshaw takes it up from Mick Rogers and he has Cav in his wheel! Cavendish blasts through with 200 metres to go, he has Thor Hushovd right behind him...but Cav is moving away...
17:02 - 1km - They;'re under the flamme rouge now, and it's all looking good for Cav!
17:01 - 2km - Silence-Lotto and Garmin have been unable to match Columbia's work! This is impressive stuff from Bob Stapleton's men.
17:00 - 3km - We're approaching La Grande Motte now, and the gap remains 36 seconds! Armstrong could find himself moving up to third tonight, ahead of Contador on the GC!
16:58 - 4km - Now, here's a thought: Cancellara has quite reasonably done diddly squat so far in this lead group, but what are the oddsw he takes advantage of everyone else's hard work by putting in a huge dig 2 kilometres from home?
16:56 - 5km - Contador is a fair way off the front of the chasing group, with a face like a slapped backside. To be fair, the only GC contender he's losing time to is Armstrong, so it's a fair decision from Bruyneel to keep the American working in the lead group together with Zubeldia and Popo.
16:55 - 6km - 36 seconds is the latest split, and the strength of this Columbia team, together with the work put in by Astana, Milram and Skil-Shimano is seeing them move away! Impressive stuff!!
16:54 - 8km - Klöden is sat right next to Contador in the chasing pack. The Spaniard must be getting increasingly frustrated as Popovych and Zubeldia are working away at the front of the lead group.
16:53 - 10km - The list of riders out front is in the list above, and we're now inside the 10-kilometre to go mark.
16:50 - 11km - Even Evans is taking turns on the front of the chasing pack now. He is beginning to panic, and is waving his arms frantically to bring others to work on the front.
16:45 - 12km - All of this is bad news for the likes of Contador, Menchov, the Schlecks, and Sastre. To be fair, the only real GC contender in here is Lance Armstrong, who must be absolutely loving this.
16:44 - 16km - The gap seems to be increasing according to on-screen graphics. 26 seconds now, and Zubeldia and Popovych are beginning to work! This is fascinating! With the so-called team leader Alberto Contador back in the chasing pack, and his internal rival Lance Armstrong in the lead group, it seems the team aren't quite as firmly behind the Spaniard as team boss Johann Bruyneel indicated.
16:44 - 19km - There are also a fair sprinkling of Skil-SHimano riders here, along with Thor Hushovd, Fabian Wegmann, Linus Gerdemann and others.
16:42 - 20km - 23 seconds is the gap between the leaders and the peloton.
16:36 - Columbia continue to work like trojans. The gap is remaining around the 15-20 seconds mark, as Saxo Bank and a number of other teams do likewise on the front of the chase group.
16:35 - After Cancellara, Lance Armstrong is the best placed man on the GC in the lead group. Meanwhile, the quartet of Dumoulin, De Kort, Perez and Bouet have been swallowed.
16:33 - Liquigas, Rabobank and Silence-Lotto have also moved to the front of the chasing group to help Saxo Bank close down the gap.
16:30 - Predictably, Armstrong and Popovych are staying in the lead group though doing none of the work. Meanwhile, Linus Gerdemann and Fabian Wegmann of Milram have come to the front and are trying to stay away.
16:29 - 28km - Jens Voigt has headed straight to the front of the chasing pack for Saxo Bank. Both the Schlecks are back in the chasing pack! 20 seconds is the gap!
16:28 -
30km - The peloton has been split to bits!! The work of the Columbia team has really had an effect!!! And now Columbia are working like trojans to make sure this gap stays!!! A few of the favourites have been caught out!! Contador is not in this front group, though Armstrong is!16:25 -
31km - Just 2'00" is the gap now. Predictions time. It looks like we're going to get a bunch sprint, so who's gonig to win? Cavendish again? Bennati? Maybe Tom Boonen? Or will someone go for it from a few kilometres out? Someone like Luis Leon Sanchez, for instance? Predictions to supergav50@hotmail.com.16:20 - 34km - Kim Kirchen is having a feed, while Cancellara is sat right in the wheel of Mark Cavendish. The sun's still shining, it's still very hot, and there's not much else to report right now.
16:15 - 37km - Under 3'00" now for the four leaders. Their day in the sun is coming to a close.
16:10 - 40km - Columbia still on the front. In answer to davidc6464 below (see user comments) the number in brackets is the number of the département that the town is in. So the town of Alres is in Bouches-du-Rhône, and for administration purposes, the number of that department is 13. That number also appears on all car registration plates.
16:05 - 44km - The gap is down to 3'50". We're set for another sprint finish, so good news for fans of Mark Cavendish.
16:00 - 48km - Columbia back on the front again now, withy Cavendish sat five riders back. So much for his claim that his team would do nothing. Perhaps a few mind games from the Manxman. Bert Grabsch is on the front, turning a typically outrageous gear that would probably leave me with muscle pain for years.
15:55 -
52km - A fall in the middle of the peloton! Two Lampre riders are down, as is a Saxo Bank rider and an FdJ rider that looks like Sandy Casar. One of the Lampre riders is Marzio Bruseghin, and he appears to havecome off worst. He has a gash on his knee. He is now sidling up to the race doctor's car to get treatment on that knee. Somewhat surprisingly, Lampre haven't sent anyone back to pace him up to the peloton. He is, after all, their best hope for the GC.15:50 - 55km - McQuaid also talked about the impact of Lance Armstrong's return to cycling: "He brings more media interest, regardless of people's opinion on what he has done or not done - which was not proven. There was a huge, mad media...in Monaco. It is good for the Tour de France and it is good for cycling. I would like him to stay one more year. It would mean 18 more months of media interest. I think his image has improved in France."
15:45 - 57km - UCI President Pat McQuaid has been quick to respond to Tour director Jean François Pescheux's demand for the UCI to get tough on the tardiness of the Astana team in showing up for Tour registration before the stage: "I am surprised Jean-Francois Pescheux is asking for it now, why he did not do it before since he is part of the world commission that set the rules," McQuaid retorted.
15:40 - 61km - Not a lot happening at the moment, to be honest. So I'll take the opportunity to point you in the direction of the latest edition of Blazing Saddles, by our very own Felix Lowe. Blazing Saddles
15:35 - 66km - Columbia and Française des Jeux have sent a couple of men foward to the front of the peloton. The latter team will have been particularly disappointed not to get a man in today's break.
15:30 - 69km - The peloton have snaked their way through the beautiful town of Arles. The aerial shots give a real impression of the speed at which these guys are moving.
15:25 - 72km - Our poll for the day looks ahead to tomorrow's TTT, and specifically asks who you think will be wearing the yellow jersey after tomorrow's stage. Astana, Saxo Bank and Columbia-HTC will all be strong, but will Cadel Evans' Silence-Lotto team be able to keep him in the hunt? Vote here
15:20 - 75km - Garmin have now moved to the front in significant numbers to help Saxo Bank out with some of the work. The gap is now down to 6'30".
15:15 - 78km - The breakaway are just passing the Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Montmajour - an absolutely gorgeous abbey. Some fantastic aerial shots from the helicopter - if you're watching on the player.
15:10 - 82km - Saxo Bank remain at the front of the pack. Kurt-Asle Arvesen is doing the work at the moment.
15:05 - 88km - The gap is coming down more rapidly now. 8'50" is the latest split.
15:00 - 93km - The breakaway is now arriving at the Col de la Vayède, our second climb of the day. It's a short climb - just 0.7 kilometres, but at a steepish 7.4%.
14:55 -
96km - Here's an interesting stat: A breakdown of the amount of work done in the breakaway. Samuel Dumoulin has done 33%, Bouet has done 32%, Perez Moreno 20% and De Kort a mere 15%.14:50 - 98km - Columbia-HTC's Tony Martin has a puncture, and Bernhard Eisel drops back to pace him back up to the peloton. Martin is young rider with a big future ahead of him, as he showed in Saturday's time-trial. Though he excelled as a time-triallist in his youth, he has recently lost weight and has developed into more of an all-rounder, as he showed in the Tour de Suisse when finishing second behind Fabian Cancellara, yet another time-triallist who is become an increasingly impressive climber.
14:45 -
Exactly 100 kilometres to go, and the gap is down to exactly 10'00". Nice round numbers.14:40 - Dumoulin was first through the intermediate sprint at Mouriès, followed by Maxime Bouet and Ruben Perez.
14:35 - Well, SaxoBank may have moved to the front, but they're not really making massive inroads into the lead quartet. 11'30" is still the gap.
14:30 -
The breakaway's average speed in the second hour was again pretty slow, at 33.7 km/h.14:25 - The Saxo Bank team appear to have moved to the front in earnest now. The gap is likely to havebeen cut quite significantly when the next time check comes through.
14:20 - Maxime Bouet is the final member of our breakaway, and is a former French junior pursuit champion. Now riding for Agritubel, the 22-year-old has enjoyed a fine season with some promising results. He won the first stages of the Trois jours de Vaucluse as well as the opener and the general classification in the Tour de l'Antelejo. He also won the Boucles de l'Aulne and was third in the Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour. Even if this breakaway doesn't survive, he is certainly one to look out for in the future.
14:15 -
118km to go, and the gap is back up to 11'30".14:10 - Just tucking in behind Koen de Kort now is Euskaltel's The 27-year-old from Zaldivar in the Basque Country has no wins to his name since turning professional in 2005. This is his third Tour de France. He finished 49th on the GC in 2007 and 88 on the GC in 2008.
14:05 - Carrying on our look at the four escapees, next up is Koen de Kort of SKil-Shimano. The 26-year-old from the Dutch cheese-producing town of Gouda has no Tour stages to his name, and his last win on the UCI circuit came back in 2005, when he won a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. Back in 2004 he won the GP Eddy Merckx, a one-day time-trial in Belgium. His best result this season was his 9th place in stage 4 of the Tour of Luxembourg.
14:00 - It's Fabian Cancellara's Saxo Bank team who have been gently pushing the pace up in the peloton. They are fully aware, however, that the lead four will struggle to keep their tempohigh on such a long, hot day.
13:55 - 132 to go, and the gap has now comedown to 9'00". I think we're in for another bunch sprint.
13:50 - While we're on the subject of Astana, check out our Lance Armstrong video, in which the Texan highlights his team's approach to the first week of the Tour. Safety first for Astana
13:45 - The Tour de France jury has summoned the Astana team after they arrived late for the pre-stage registration on Monday. UCI regulations state that a rider must register for a stage at least 20 minutes before the start or faces a fine of 100 Swiss Francs ($92). Tour de France competitions director Jean-Francois Pescheux called for tougher sanctions. "Today, and as usual, the Astana team arrived late at the pre-stage registration, in contempt of the crowd, who has once again not seen Lance Armstrong. They don't care about the fine. We are going to ask the UCI to be tougher."
13:40 -
141 kilometres remaining, and the break is beginning to come down. It's at 11'00", as opposed to 12'45" ten kilometres ago.13:35 - Bouet is the first man through the intermediate sprint at La Fare-les-Oliviers, followed by Dumoulin and De Kort.
13:30 - Let's take a closer look at the four riders in the breakaway, starting with Cofidis' Samuel Dumoulin. The Frenchman is the only one of the quartet to have won a stage of the grande boucle. He won stage 3 last year in Nantes, beating William Frischkorn in a sprint. Romain Feillu was also part of that successful break, though was happy to leave the stage win for Dumoulin, as he took the yellow jersey. Another interesting fact about Dumoulin: he is the smallest man in the peloton at just 1m59.
13:25 -
The lead four are now 12'15" clear of the peloton, who are still looking none too bothered about doing any chasing.13:20 - Meanwhile, Ed Mallen writes: "Can't see a break staying away with such a flat finish and so many sprinters getting their noses rubbed in the dirt yesterday. If there is a sniff of a stage win Cav will be in the mix again. Also, how come Charly Wegelius got a ride when he was reported that he was left out of the team?" The reason for that was that Thomas Dekker was left out of Silence-Lotto's team after a positive test for EPO, freeing up a spot for Charly.
13:15 - Dave Goldring on Cav's claim that Columbia would not be working for a sprint today: "No chance, itÂ’s a huge bluff. With a lead out train like they have, Columbia-HTC are going to go for it everyday that there is a bunch sprint possible. And I am hoping so as I have £50 on Cav to win today!"
13:10 - And listen to LIVE commentary from David Harmon and Sean Kelly (this is Eurosport International not British International): click here
13:10 - The Tour de France is LIVE NOW on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521) and is also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player: click here to subscribe
13:05 -
First person to reply to our trivia question of the day was Regina Reinke, who remembered that it was Hervé Duclos-Lassalle who was first to withdraw last year! A virtual round of applause to you!13:00 -
The average speed after the first hour of racing was a very pedestrian 35.9km/h.12:55 - Bbox Bouygues Telecom sporting director Jean-René Bernaudeau was full of praise for Yukiha Arashiro, his young Japanese rider who finished 5th on yesterday's stage. "Everybody is talking about it. It was noticeable at the start. I knew I had signed a good rider. It wasn't a piece of marketing. He came to our attention at the Japan Cup. He had a very good day yesterday, and is comfortable on his bike. William Bonnet is still our number 1 sprinter, though we will see if Yukiya can repeat his fine performance in the coming days." Thanks to his fine performance, Arashiro has made it into our hot or not barometer, which you can access via this link: Who's hot and who's not
12:50 - The lead quartet are working very well together, and are profiting from the apathy in the peloton. 10'20" is the latest split.
12:45 - Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) were conspicuous by their absence in yesterday's sprint, so just what were the two playing at? Boonen explains: "I was trying to get back to the front of the peloton with Bennati, but we were knowcked off course and ended up going straight ahead [missing a right-hand turn]. I have a different plan today. Columbia-HTC is impressive, as nobody is doing anything against them. Nobody is reacting, just like with Petacchi's Milram team in the past."
12:40 -
Mark Cavendish at the start of today's stage: "It's great to be wearing the green jersey. We won yesterday, so it's not up to us to work for a sprint finish today. If other teams want to win at La Grande-Motte, then they'll have to work for it. We have other objectives. There's the team time-trial on Tuesday. We shouldn't forget that." Is Cav bluffing - perhaps trying to seduce the likes of Milram to do some work? Or are they really not bothered about a stage win today? Mail your thoughts to supergav50@hotmail.com.12:35 - 8'15" is the latest gap as the leaders stretch out their advantage. Saxo Bank, Columbia and Garmin would normally be a little more active at this stage, but with tomorrow's TTT on the agenda, they're conserving their energy.
12:30 - It's another sweltering day here in the South of France. Blazing sunshine and light winds mean another uncomfortable day for the peloton.
12:30 -
Which brings us on to our trivia question for the day: Who was the first rider to withdraw from the Tour de France last year? Answers to supergav50@hotmail.com. First correct response receives a virtual round of applause.12:25 - All but one rider took the start today. Quick Step's Jurgen Van de Walle was taken to hospital following his crash yesterday, and he was found to have fractured his collarbone. He has been withdrawn from the race.
12:20 -
Dumoulin and Bouet have now been joined by Perez Moreno and de Kort, and the lead quartet are now a full 6'00" clear of a fairly slow-moving peloton.12:15 -
Speaking to Eurosport-Yahoo! before today's stage Agritubel director Emmanuel Hubert talked up the chances of his sprinter Romain Feillu. "We know Romain is going quickly, but to beat Cavendish will be very difficult. But mistakes can happen, so we have reason to believe in victory in every sprint. I know his timing is good at the moment, and that he is capable to taking the right wheel. We don't need a team of sprinters, as Romain can manage by himself. We just need to make sure we bring him to the front when the tempo goes up."12:10 - Maxime Bouet is the best placed of the escapees. He lies 74th on the GC, 1'39" down on Fabian Cancellara, and is now in the virtual yellow jersey.
12:10 - Bouet and Dumoulin now have 1'35" over the peloton, while De Kort and Perez Moreno are still trying to bridge the gap. It might be worth the French duo waiting for the other two, as trying to survive 196 kilometres in just a two-man break is pretty much mission impossible.
12:05 -
Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) and Maxime Bouet (Ag2r) are the first two men to attack, inside the first kilometre. Koen de Kort (Skil-Shimano) and Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel) are trying to join them, and they now have a 45 second lead over the peloton.12:05 - Cav may start as favourite, but Tuesday's team time-trial alters the complexion of today's stage. Will Columbia-HTC be prepared to put in such long shifts on the front of the peloton today? Will Milram take over? Could it be one for breakaways? Here to take us through the stage is Cofidis' Rémi Pauriol. Pauriol's take on stage 3
12:00 - Mark Cavendish begins the day in the sprinter's green jersey after his win inthe opening stage in Brignoles yesterday. Such was the consummate ease with which he pulled clear of Tyler Farrar and Romain Feillu, he starts as a big favourite for today's stage. Click the following link to see Cav's victory on yesterday: Stage 1 final kilometre
12:00 -
The riders are off on stage 3 of the Tour de France - the race commissar has waved his flag, and we're racing!11:00 - The favourites will have to stay near the front of the bunch since a sudden acceleration from one team when crosswinds are blowing can split the peloton. Those who are trapped at the back can lose minutes, which happened to Spaniard Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour winner, in this year's Paris-Nice race. Swiss Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team will wear the overall leader's yellow jersey, starting the stage with an 18-second lead over Astana's Contador. General Classification
10:00 -
The Tour de France favourites will have to stay extremely focused today as strong crosswinds are expected on the third stage, a 196.5km trek from Marseille to La Grande Motte. Meteo France services forecast 30kph winds with gusts up to 55kph on the Mediterranean coastline, which could cause some splits in the peloton. "For the leaders, just one word - vigilance," said Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme.
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Comment 36 - 55 of 55
haha i cant believe some idiot says Cavendish is not good. i suppose Cippolini was also not good huh? cos he was led out by his team, just like every other top sprinter , they sit on wheels then sprint u @#$%. take off your blinkers and do not make child like comments that are obviously bool sheet.
go lance go you dont need anyone just do it again for us
paulkitterick Hi Paul! Yeah; I'm another "credit-crunchee" - but it takes the sting out of it to be able to watch hours of Le Tour every day. Best of luck with the job search - from August...
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome....Armstrong jab's one in the face at mard-arse Contador and Cav wins again. Cav is total quality.
@jddh1982 -- You can get Eurosport audio in the States. This is how I do it. I open Eurosport in Internet Explorer (might work with Firefox but am not sure) but be sure you open the *UK* version, not the international version. Then click on live audio. Sometimes I can get audio and sometimes not but I think the solution has been to open the UK version of Eurosport -- at least that's working for me this morning. Versus's online video has been freezing up. This drives me crazy. I'd pay good money to get the tour online but recently the only site I've found that worked well when presenting professional cycling was Universal Sports for the Giro. Everything else (including cycling.tv) is beset with problems.
cavendish is nothing worth alone,he is not good
Cavendish is the KIng of the Sprint!!! What a ride, 3 stages 2 wins!
2 out of 2 for cav well done
My screen says they are at 103 KM from the finish .. typical French IT folks ...
Armstrong inserts the knife into Contador and twists it.
@ davidc6464
I think I read somewhere else that the numbers are the French regional / 'departemente' codes.
Does the tour provide internet radio? I'm at work and would love to listen to the race. I live in the United States. Versus has live video online for us, the American market, but who can watch video at work? Radio is more manageable.
Gap On my screen still 7min56sec and still only at 107km
ALL CYCLING ON INTERNET: TOUR DE FRANCE , GIRO D’ITALIA, LA VUELTA, TOUR OF BRITAIN, LEEDS INTERNATIONAL CLASSIC, MILAN-SANREMO, PARIS-ROUBAIX, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, MOUNTAIN BIKE AND MUCH MORE
Why is the live stream not refreshing? Quiet annoying!!
Really disappointed not to have Tour coverage here in Hong Kong. We had the Giro so why no Tour?!!! Anyway Cav to take this one by a bike length.
Today, in case you didn't know, is Tynwald Day. Its the Isle of Man National Day and a public holiday in the Isle of Man. What price a Cavendish win on his national day. Come on Cav, everyone back home is rooting for you!
I was unfortunately 'credit crunched' a while back... what a blessing in disguise... absolutely loving the commentary and now hoping nothing turns up up on the job front until the 27th July :-) Paul
Least stylish is definitely Karpets. Have you seen that mullet?
This might be a dopey question, but when you get helicopter "scenic" shots of, say a town or chateau the name of the feature is often followed by a number in parentheses. What does the number relate to?
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