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NANTES, France: Frenchman Romain Feillu took the biggest accolade of
his career Monday when a successful breakaway that foxed the
sprinters’ teams handed him the Tour de France yellow jersey
Monday.
Compatriot Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis won the
third stage—a treacherous 208-km ride from Saint Malo to here—in
style after jumping out from behind Feillu in the closing meters of
a thrilling sprint to the finish line.
It is the first success on the Tour for the
23-year-old who crossed the line ahead of US rider Will Frischkorn,
who had instigated their successful break from the main bunch in the
first kilometer.
Over two minutes later, and following a crucial
split in the chasing bunch which left two yellow jersey hopefuls
behind, Australian Robbie McEwen beat Germany’s Erik Zabel to the
line.
It was Zabel’s 38th birthday, and his Aussie
rival wasn’t in the mood for charity but gave him a friendly pat
on the back.
Feillu, 24, now holds a 35-second lead over
Italy’s Paolo Longo, who finished fourth, but he may struggle to
hold on to the race lead after Tuesday’s time-trial over 29.5kms
at Cholet.
The time trial favorite, Fabian Cancellara, is
only 1:52 in his wake and Feillu was as mystified as everybody else
as to his chances of keeping the race lead.
“I will have to see how I recuperate tonight,
and I’ve never started such an important race with the yellow
jersey on my shoulders,” he added.
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who had been
wearing the leader’s jersey, drops to fourth position one minute
and 45 seconds behind the new leader.
The Caisse d’Epargne ace remains the highest
placed of the Tour’s yellow jersey favorites, with Australian
Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto still just one second behind after he
managed to avoid the fate of Denis Menchov and Riccardo Ricco.
-- AFP
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