Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel starts the third stage of the Tour de France in the yellow jersey following two days of ever-increasing crashes
Reigning Tour champion Alberto Contador, riding for Astana, starts the day with his right arm patched up following an almighty pile-up in the main peloton on the wet roads of the Ardennes
Seven-time winner Lance Armstrong also sports a patch from the same crash, claiming Andy Schleck and Bradley Wiggins, too, and seeing Fabian Cancellara organising a go-slow protest against the dangerous race conditions
The better, almost ideal, weather and the smooth Tarmac of the opening of stage three will not fool the experienced racers as the route has been designed to take their bicycles across miles of cobbled roads
The cobbles catch out few riders but the greater risk comes from punctures - one each for Chavanel, Armstrong and Mark Cavendish, two for Contador - as many try to ride in the dusty gutters
One rider to lose it on the uneven surface of the Sars-et-Rosi�res stretch is Frank Schleck, who goes on to retire from the race with a broken collarbone, while brother Andy is leading as part of a six-man breakaway group
The pave proves as dangerous for individual riders as the wet did in the Ardennes for the group - Daminao Cunego, Charlie Wegelius, Rin Taaramae all tumbling
Another problem for those behind the leading group, sweat-drenched and gasping for air, is the detritus kicked up from the sides of the pave on the driest day so far of the tour
With many contenders taken out by the bumpy conditions, Thor Hushovd wins the stage, with Britain's Geraint Thomas second on the day, fifth in general classification, and now in the white of the best under-25 rider
Yesterday's shop steward Cancellara is today's overall leader and the Swiss crosses the finish line with teammate Andy Schleck, still showing the scars of stage two's crash
Contador crosses the line, having slipped from his teammates but not too far behind the leaders, to move to ninth in general standing but indicates at the finish that something is wrong with his left thigh
Cancellara pulls on the yellow of the tour leader, taking it back from Chavanel, with Hushovd getting the green sprinter's jersey and Jerome Pineau in the polka dots of the King of the Mountain
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