Stage 3 results

Stage 3 of the Tour was 216.5km (134.5 miles) from Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg to Valkenburg, Linburg. Today was a bad day for some of the riders. 3 more riders had to abandon the race today. Erik Dekker and Fred Rodriguez crashed on the approach to the 3rd climb. Dekker fractured his collarbone and also required stitches to his face. Later on in the race with about 20km left, Alejandro Valverde crashed. He also fractured a collarbone.

In the end it was Kessler from T-Mobile winning the stage. Tom Boonen came in 4th gaining enough time to give him the yellow jersey. Big George Hincapie moves up into 3rd only 5 seconds behind the leader.

The top five for stage 3
1. Matthias Kessler (GER - TMO)
2. Michael Rogers (AUS - TMO) at 5"
3. Daniel Benatti (ITA - LAM) at 5"
4. Tom Boonen (QSI - BEL) at 5"
5. Erik Zabel (GER - MRM) at 5"


Overall standings (top 5)
1 BOONEN, Tom BEL QSI 14:52:23
2 ROGERS, Michael AUS TMO 01"
3 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 05"
4 HUSHOVD, Thor NOR C.A 07"
5 SAVOLDELLI, Paolo ITA DSC 15"


Stage Map

(From www.olntv.com)

Stage Topography

(From www.olntv.com)