[Updates below, including “Contador caused the split”]
Sometimes just showing up to work is enough for a routine stage of the Tour de France, but sometimes you have to pay attention.
Lance Armstrong pays attention.
The veteran of 12 Tours de France, Armstrong caught a Team Columbia attack late in Stage 3 on Monday that split the peloton. Armstrong's position in the break caused him to jump from 10th to 3rd place in the General Classification.
The titular head of Team Astana, Alberto Contador, was caught in the chasing peloton that finished 40 seconds behind the lead group.
New Astana leader?
Observers will note that Armstrong had Astana teammates Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia in the breakaway with him, and all three helped drive the breakaway from the peloton. Conspiracy theorists also may note that longtime Armstrong lieutenant George Hincapie rides for the Columbia team that created the split and pushed the pace.
[Update: CyclingNews.com was able to put that question to Hincapie. “… He responded initially with a blank expression, as though weighing his words carefully. 'I saw Lance,' he shrugged. 'I mean, he was obviously excited [to be in the move] but we were there, just doing our job. … We had Mick Rogers there,' Hincapie continued, 'and people were just sitting back (not helping with the chase). But we saw a moment to attack and we took it.' “]
[Update from AFP: After the stage Frenchman Christophe Le Mevel claimed it was Contador's failure to stick to the wheel in front of him which caused the split with around 30km to go. “When the split happened I was right on (behind) Contador's wheel,” said the Francaise des Jeux rider. “If it's true there were 29 guys in front he must have been 30th and I was 31st. It was him who caused the split.”]
Astana is favored to win the Stage 4 team time trial on Tuesday. As the top-placed rider on Astana, there's a chance that Armstrong could be in the yellow jersey after that stage.
Quoted in the Washington Post, Armstrong said:
“I am not ok with that theory saying there can be only one team leader. … I have won seven Tours de France, I will have to be counted in.”
[Update: Quoted by the AP: “We knew the wind was going to be a factor. When you see a team at the front like that, you have to pay attention.” Armstrong said it was “not my objective” to gain ground on Contador, insisting he was “just trying to stay up front and out of trouble. … I turned around and was surprised there was a split.”]
Finish
With all of Team Columbia in the 20-man breakaway, the only challenger to their sprinter Mark Cavendish was Thor Hushovd. The Norwegian gave it a good try but couldn't beat Cavendish to the finish in La Grande-Motte.
Fabian Cancellara also make the jump with the breakaway group, so he kept the yellow jersey for another day.
The win marked the 6th Tour de France career win for Cavendish, and his second victory in this year's Tour. He says that he wants to finish this year's Tour with a victory in Paris.
Stage 3 route
The 122-mile stage for Montpelier to La Grande-Mott featured some hills in the first half but complete flatness during the second half of the stage. Team Columbia worked at the front of the peloton to chase down an early breakaway, but headwinds and sidewinds caused by the winding route caused a break in the peloton with about 16 miles to go.
While Armstrong and Cancellara made the move with Columbia at the front, Astana teammates Contador and Levi Leipheimer were caught in the trailing peloton along with others Tour favorites, such as Cadel Evans. Leipheimer later wrote:
“I've never seen the group split so suddenly, one second we were calm & then Columbia hit it in a very short section of cross wind. LA alert!”
Armstrong says he was just lucky to be near the front of the peloton when Columbia made the move:
“St3 done – gnarly! Crosswinds all day and a group snuck off in the last 25k behind Columbia/HTC's tempo. I was lucky enough 2 b there. … Had Popo and Zubeldia w/ me and no other GC favs in the front. Gained valuable time but most likely minor in scheme of 3 weeks. Onward.”
Although the split narrowed to 25 seconds with 11 miles to go, the peloton couldn't make up the margin and finished about 40 seconds after the lead group.
1st breakaway
A group of four cyclists attacked just 10 miles into the 122 mile stage from Marseille to La Grande-Motte. The four — Maxime Bouet (Agritubel), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Koen de Kort (Skil-Shimano) — gained an advantage of more than 12 minutes about 30 miles into the race.
That margin had dwindled to about 4 minutes within about 40 miles of the finish in La Grande-Motte.
Cavendish says he'd like survive the entire 21 stages of this year's Tour de France and win the final stage in Paris wearing the green jersey.
Top 10 overall
1. Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo
2. Tony Martin, Team Columbia – 33 seconds
3. Lance Armstrong, Astana – 40 seconds
4. Alberto Contador, Astana – 59 seconds
5. Bradley Wiggins, Garmin – 1:00
6. Andreas Kloden, Astana – 1:03
7. Linus Gerdemann, Milram – 1:03
8. Cadel Evans, Silence Lotto – 1:04
9. Maxine Monfort, Columbia – 1:10
10. Levi Leipheimer, Astana – 1:11
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