Berges is in his fourth year as a professional cyclist

Frenchman Emilien Berges won stage three of the Tour of Britain to take the overall leader's yellow jersey.

The Agritubel rider, 25, raced clear of an eight-rider group on the edge of Burnham-on-Sea to finish 30 seconds clear of team-mate Geoffrey Lequarte.

Lequarte led on his own for 80km of the 185km stage, and managed to move up to second in the overall standings.

Berges' overall lead is 29 seconds while Ian Stannard is the best-placed Briton in fourth place.

Berges' comprehensive victory in the Chard to Burnham-on-Sea stage, in which he took the lead 8km from the finish, saw the Frenchman snatch the yellow jersey from Alessandro Petacchi.

"It was a really good day - I went off well and I was able to work well with my team-mate (Lequarte)," he said.

"Originally my plan was to lead out for the sprint and to help him get to the front, but when I got up to the front the others just seemed to let me go.

"Time trialling is my speciality so once I was out in front I knew I had a good chance.

"Once I saw that there were no motorbikes behind me I knew I'd done it and I just enjoyed the ride home.

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"But the hard work starts now - it's hard getting up there but it is even harder to stay out at the front."

Stannard finished the stage in sixth while fellow Briton Roger Hammond took the lead in the points competition from Petacchi - who dropped off the peloton with a front wheel problem soon after the start in Chard - with a 12th-place finish.

Britain's Kristian House also kept hold of the polka-dot jersey for the leading climber.

The tour heads north on Wednesday for the fourth stage from Worcester to Stoke-on-Trent.

Tour of Britain stage three results:

1 Emilien Berges (Fra) Agritubel, 4hrs 49mins 22secs

2 Geoffrey Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel, at 30secs

3 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes, same time

4 Daniel Martin (Ire) Garmin, same time

5 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) An Post, same time

6 Ian Stannard (GB) Great Britain, same time

7 Steve Cummings (GB) Barloworld, same time

8 Daniel Fleeman (GB) An Post, same time

9 Frederik Veuchelen (GB) Topsport Vlaanderen at 39secs

10 Russell Downing (GB) Pinarello RT - Candi TV at 1min 45secs

Selected others:

12 Roger Hammond (GB) Columbia, at 1min 56secs

15 Kristian House (GB) Rapha-Condor, at 2mins

21 Jonathan Bellis (GB) CSC-Saxo Bank, at 2mins 5secs

30 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Columbia, at 13mins 2secs

37 David Millar (GB) Garmin, at same time

41 Rob Hayles (GB) Great Britain, at same time

78 Geraint Thomas (GB) Barloworld, at same time

82 Ben Swift (GB) Great Britain, at same time

General classification (after four stages):

1 Emilen Berges (Fra) Agritubel, 10hrs 6mins 17secs

2 Geoffrey Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel, at 29secs

3 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes, at 36secs

4 Ian Stannard (GB) Great Britain, at 37secs

5 Steve Cummings (GB) Barloworld, at same time

6 Daniel Fleeman (Ire) An Post, at 39secs

7 Benny de Schrooder (Bel) An Post, at 40secs

8 Daniel Martin (Ire) Garmin, at same time

9 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Topsport, at 49secs

10 Russell Downing (GB) Pinarello, at 1min 50secs

Selected others:

12 Roger Hammond (GB) Columbia, at 2mins 6secs

15 Kristian House (GB) Rapha-Condor, at same time

19 Jonathan Bellis (GB) CSC-Saxo Bank, at 2mins 15secs

24 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes, at 13mins 2secs

26 Danilo di Luca (GB) LPR Brakes, at 13 mins 4secs

27 Rod Hayles (GB) Great Britain, at 13 mins 6secs

35 Ben Swift (GB) Great Britain, at same time

49 David Millar (GB) Garmin, at same time

56 Geraint Thomas (GB) Barloworld, at same time

76 Chris Newton (GB) Rapha-Condor, at same time

84 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Columbia, at 13mins 58secs