American Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Cervelo upstaged the hopes of British sprint rival Mark Cavendish on his way to a maiden Tour de France victory on the third stage Monday. World champion Thor Hushovd of Norway kept possession of the race leader’s yellow jersey as Garmin celebrated their second win on the trot, having won the 23km team time trial at Les Essarts on Sunday.
Cavendish, who has won a record 15 stages in the past three editions of the race, had a perfect lead-in to the finale by his dominant HTC-Highroad team. However the Isle of Man rider found the going tough after a final bend forced many riders to slow down and lose momentum. Despite a late burst, he could only finish fifth. Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas rounded the bend on his own, but with no teammates to follow up he was soon swamped by Garmin as Hushovd and New Zealander Julian Dean dragged Farrar towards the finish. Frenchman Romain Feillu of Vacansoleil and Movistar Rojas launched late charges, but Farrar came over the finish half a bike length clear. “It’s fantastic, I’ve been working to get this for a long time,” said Farrar. “It’s the first mass sprint of the Tour, and it’s always a bit chaotic. But the team almost made it easy for me.
“We showed yesterday how strong our team is, winning the team time trial. It was a relief, and took the pressure off the shoulders. “It just keeps on getting better now.” Although his win came on America’s Independence Day, Farrar — who made a ‘W’ gesture shortly after crossing the line — immediately dedicated the victory to stricken friend Wouter Weylandt of Belgium.
Leopard-Trek team rider Weylandt was one of Farrar’s best friends, but crashed to his death in the Giro d’Italia in early May. “I want to dedicate this victory to Wouter,” added Farrar, who is based in Belgium. “It’s been a horrible past few months. Everything that happened in the Giro, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. “In the end I wanted to come back and do something to pay tribute. This is the biggest race in the world, and I didn’t know it would be possible, but I’ve trained really hard for this. “At the moment I can’t quite believe I’ve won it.”
Cav and Hushovd lose points after sprint tussle: Tour de France organisers punished Mark Cavendish and Thor Hushovd for a mid-stage tussle by stripping the pair of the points they won at the intermediate sprint on the race’s third stage Monday. Cavendish, a 15-time stage winner who is bidding to win the points competition’s green jersey, appeared to nudge his Norwegian rival with his head as they jostled for position at high speed before the dash for the line.
The Briton eventually came over the sprint, at the 104km mark, in sixth place — and the first from the bunch behind an earlier five-man breakaway — ahead of Hushovd who eventually was 12th. But after the stage the race’s director of competition, Jean-Francois Pescheux, said both had been guilty of a “serious infringement” and were therefore stripped of the points won.
“Both of them have been relegated from this sprint,” Pescheux told France 2 television. “First of all Hushovd left his line and then Cavendish forced his way in. That’s a serious infringement. We can’t allow that. “If we let this pass, in the sprint tomorrow there could be dozens of guys crashing and then people will be asking us, ‘why didn’t you act’?”
While the points competition’s green jersey is one of Cavendish’s objectives this year, it is not for Hushovd — a former two-time winner.
Wearing the yellow jersey after his Garmin team’s victory in the time trial on Sunday, the Norwegian went on to play a major role in American teammmate Tyler Farrar taking the stage win after 198km of racing from Olonne sur Mer. Later, Hushovd laughed off the incident: “I just wanted to rub off some of my suncream (on Cavendish).”
Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas, who finished third on the stage, took over the green jersey and now has 65 points, with Farrar in second on 58 and overnight wearer Philippe Gilbert third on 52. Cavendish, who could only finish fifth, is ninth on 27 points.
