Farrar’s first tour victory came after help from his teammate, and former green jersey winner, Thor Hushovd and Julian Dean. The American edged out Romain Feillu of Vacansoleil, by half a bike, Jose Joaquin Rojas. Farrar dedicated his victory to his best friend Wouter Weylandt, who was killed in a freak accident during the Giro D’Italia, by putting his hands in a W sign.
Stage favourite Mark Cavendish suffered a setback, after getting stuck behind a crash in the last corner, and could only manage fifth. As the crash was in the last 3 kilometres none of the riders lost any time. Cavendish was in a prime position, in the last 15km, with his HTC-Columbia teammates surrounding him.
Team Sky took control of the peloton going under the flamme rouge, as the pace ramped up. White jersey holder, Geraint Thomas looked like he was going to attempt the victory alone, but he ran out of steam in the final few hundred metres and eventually crossed the line in 15th.
The stage started with a bang, with five riders breaking away in the opening kilometre. The group included Maxime Bouet, Mickael Delage, Jose Gutierrez, Ruben Perez and Niki Terpstra. The five men managed to extend their lead up to the eight minute mark, before being caught with 20km to go.
Thor Hushovd still remains in control of the yellow jersey, with his teammate David Millar sitting right behind him. Rojas now moves in to the green jersey, after his third place, taking it from stage one’s victory Philip Gilbert. The Belgian still holds on to the polka-dot jersey, with Mikael Delage the only other rider with mountain points.
Stage four is a 172.5km ride from Lorient to Mûr-de-Bretagne, with a hilltop finish.
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