German rider Matthias Kessler who riders for the T-Mobile squad has sported excellent form over the last several stages and finally got his stage win yesterday as he attacked up the famed Cauberg climb (which is also the finish for the Amstel Gold Race in the spring). The German powerhouse made a gutsy move with about 1.5 kilometers to go (half way up the climb) and no one was able to hold his wheel although several riders sure tried including Boogerd who rides for the Robobank team.
While Boonen was once again unable to win the stage he did cross the line with the first finishing group while Hushovd came in about 15 seconds afterwards, it was enough to but Tom Boonen in the yellow jersey (which will suit him just fine as today’s stage started in Belgium).
Tour de France Stage 3 Results – Top 20:
1 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile
2 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 0.05
3 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
5 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram
6 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
7 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
8 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile
9 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner
10 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
11 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
12 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Milram
13 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
15 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel
16 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
17 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
18 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
19 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC
20 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
Complete Tour standings can be found here.
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