Tour De France Stage 3: Frenchman In Yellow, GC Favorites Lose Time

Samuel Dumoulin, the Frenchman of the Cofidis team, took top honors on stage three of the Tour de France, after surviving with three others on the long, flat 208 kilometer race. One of his companions in the break, 24 year old Romain Feillu of the French Agritubel team gained enough time on the field and overall leader Alejandro Valverde to wrestle the yellow jersey away from the Spaniard, to the delight of all his French fans.

Feillu has been touted as a rising star of French cycling, and his exploits may remind some of Thomas Voekler in 2004. Back then, the Frenchman escaped the field with a breakaway group, gained the yellow jersey in stage five, and held it all the way until stage 14, when Lance Armstrong claimed it back, holding it until Paris. Feillu won't be able to keep the jersey for nearly as long, but the time he spends as the race leader in the Tour will long be remembered by both himself and his Franch fans throughout the country.

In the race for the overall title, two heavy hitters lost significant time on the day, as both Denis Menchov and Riccardo Ricco were caught behind a crash in the peloton and were gapped by the main field. Each lost thirty eight seconds to the other GC contenders. Ricco has already claimed that he isn't riding for the overall title, so the time he lost may end up helping him as he hunts for the mouintains jersey later on in the Tour. For Menchov, the time loss can only be seen as bad, as the Russian will have to work that much harder to get back to even time with the other big GC riders.

Tomorrow's time trial will give Menchov a chance to gain back some time, but being that the race is only 29.5 kilometers, he won't be able to take back all thirty eight seconds. Best case scenario for Menchov will see him take a handfull of seconds back from his competition, and remain fresh enough for the mountains later in the week. World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara will be the favorite in the race against the clock in tomorrow's stage four, as 'Tony Sparticus' attempts to win his first stage of the 2008 Tour.