Stages 3 & 4 of the Tour de France are behind us and after a breakneck day on Tuesday the riders had a break on Wednesday as they cruised into Reims.

Stage 3 took the riders over some of the cobbles of the Paris-Roubaix and was always going to be an epic stage with major impacts for riders looking to the GC.  Crucial to the overall was going to be staying near the front and upright with huge problems in the event of a crash or mechanical that needed a bike change as the peloton strung out.

The major drama of the day occurred when Frank Schleck had a bad crash on a cobbled section, holding up most of the riders and allowing a breakaway group of favourites to go up the road.  In the group were Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank, World Champ Cadel Evans of BMC and Thor Hushovd of Cervelo and they set about stretching their advantage with 2010 Paris-Roubaix winner Fabian Cancellara the main man on the front, no holding everyone up like the day before.  Chasing hard behind was a group that included 7 time winner Lance Armstrong and behind that another featuring Alberto Contador and Alexandre Vinokourov of Astana.

Disaster fell for the American though as he punctured on another section of pave and lost 45 seconds waiting for a wheel change which had to come from a teammate.  With Yaroslav Popvych he set about trying to catch the Contador group eventually having to go it alone to try to reduce his losses.  Radioshack had looked very strong with many riders at the front of the group but the crash saw them split all over the peloton as both Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer also suffered punctures and had to take wheels from teammates.  Armstrong eventually trailed in2 minutes 8 seconds behind Cancellara who reclaimed yellow.  This leaves the Radioshack with a proverbial and actual mountain to climb as he will have to pull something special out of the bag to reclaim the time lost to his rivals.

Back at the front Hushovd claimed the stage win with a lacklustre sprint but the days big winner was Cadel Evans who jumped to third on GC with Andy Schleck 30 seconds back.  Contador did well to stay relatively in contact only dropping of the back of the chase group in the final few hundred metres with a broken spoke.  Contador and Schleck had been expected to be the big losers on the stage but would up doing more than fine.  A note for the sole Irishman in the peloton Nicolas Roche who managed to stay with the Cancellara group all the way to the line for a fabulous performance that boosts him to 11th overall on GC.

Frank Schleck is out with a broken collarbone.

Stage 3 result

1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 4:49:38
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
4 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
6 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
7 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions 0:00:53
8 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
9 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
11 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
12 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:01:13

General Classification after stage 3
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 14:54:00
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:00:23
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:39
4 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:00:46
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 0:01:01
6 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:09
7 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 0:01:19
8 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 0:01:31
9 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:01:40
10 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:01:42
11 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
12 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions 0:01:47
13 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0:01:49
14 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
15 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions 0:02:06
16 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:02:24
17 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:02:25
18 Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack 0:02:30
19 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:02:34
20 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:02:35

Stage 4 was always going to seem tame following the carnage on the cobbles and was a day for the sprinters.  Surprisingly Mark Cavendish was not even in the top ten, sitting up before the line.  The yellow train of HTC-Columbia was swamped on the run in and Italian rider Allessandro Petacchi claimed his second win of the Tour.  Behind him was Tyler Farrar’s leadout man Julian Dean who did an able job in the place of his teammate who suffered a broken bone in his wrist in Monday’s big pileup.  Farar is riding one handed and hopes to be able to contest sprints in the second week, a tough man given the cobbled stage the day before.  No change on the overall after the stage.

Today, Thursday is another day for the sprinters.  Could this be the day that Cavendish finally hits form?

Stage 4 result

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 3:34:55
2 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team
4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha
5 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Transitions
6 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
7 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
8 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
9 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
10 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank