KEY POINTS:
COMPIEGNE - A late burst of speed gave overall leader Fabian Cancellara a dazzling victory in the third stage of the Tour de France yesterday.
The Swiss rider of the CSC team, who took the yellow jersey when he won the prologue in London last weekend, added some
panache to the longest stage of this year's race when he broke away from the bunch 300 metres from the finish line.
He showed no mercy to the four fugitives of the day, who finished empty-handed after a 230km breakaway near the start of the 236.5km stage that ended in the last straight.
Cancellara, who began the day with his hand bandaged after being involved in the massive pile-up in Ghent, caught sprinters Erik Zabel and Danilo Napolitano cold.
German Zabel of the Milram team and Italian Napolitano, who rides for Lampre, finished second and third. German Andreas Kloeden of Astana and Briton David Millar of Saunier Duval retained their second and third places overall.
"It was a really long stage," said Cancellara.
"When I saw the four riders ahead were doing good, I had the feeling I had to work to keep my jersey.
"I knew there were some cobblestones at the very end of the stage and I knew I could attack. It's so nice to win here in Compiegne, right where Paris-Roubaix starts."
France's Nicolas Vogondy and Mathieu Ladagnous, of the Francaise des Jeux and Agritubel teams respectively, gave the peloton the slip 6km after the start.
Though riding at a snail's pace, the duo opened a 16-minute gap with the sprinters' teams unable to collaborate.
Vogondy and Ladagnous were joined with 40km remaining by Belgian Frederik Willems of the Liquigas team and Frenchman Stephane Auge of Cofidis.
Auge, who was first to the top of the fourth-category Blerancourt hill, took the climbers' polka-dot jersey from Millar.
* New Zealand's Julian Dean was 106th in the general classification.
Dean, riding for Credit Agricole, who are 12th in the team standings, was 100th in the 236.5km stage three from Waregem (Belgium) to Compiegne (France).
He was 66th in the 168.5km stage two from Dunkirk (France) to Ghent (Belgium) after finishing 12th in the opening stage (203km).
- REUTERS