The main goal for the third stage of the Tour de France was to stay safe and avoid any time gaps at the finish. Leopard Trek successfully accomplished the task. Linus Gerdemann remains the team’s highest placed rider in fifth place with Fränk Schleck, Andy Schleck and Jakob Fuglsang behind in eighth, ninth and tenth place respectively. Fabian Cancellara sits two places back in 12th.

The race between Olonne-sur-Mer and Redon played out mostly as expected. A five-rider break formed within the opening kilometer. Nine kilometers from the line, the field was back together for the inevitable bunch sprint.

The only bump on the otherwise flat, straightforward stage came 141 kilometers into the race on the Pont de Saint-Nazaire. The bridge left the peloton exposed and riders fighting for safety towards the front of the bunch. A front group of around 50 riders formed as the rest of the field splintered behind.

The gaps created on the bridge were not decisive as those behind caught back on fairly quickly, but the incident highlighted the importance of positioning and served as yet another remainder that small mistakes in the first week could prove costly. Shortly after crossing the bridge, Jens Voigt and Stuart O’Grady took to the front to take control of the pace-making.

“The purpose of their effort was keep Andy and Fränk out of trouble,” Andersen explained. “These early stages are more nervous than hard, and nothing counts as much as not losing time.”

Fifteen kilometers from the finish the teams concerned with the overall ceded control to the teams focused on the sprint. HTC-Highroad joined Garmin-Cervélo at the head of affairs.

In the end, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervélo) would earn his first Tour de France mass finish stage win. As he crossed the line, he formed a “W” with his hands to dedicate his victory to Wouter Weylandt. Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) finished second ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) in third. Thor Hushovd finished with the main field to stay in yellow.

The fourth stage will be an interesting one. The run into central Brittany on meandering, rolling roads may cause surprises before the two kilometer climb to the finish could force splits among leaders.