Belgian Tom Boonen of the Quick Step team unleashed another powerful sprint to win the third stage of the Tour de France held over 212,5km between La Chataigneraie and Tours on Monday.
American David Zabriskie, of the CSC team, retained the race leader’s yellow jersey with a two-second lead on six-time winner Lance Armstrong.
Armstrong, who is aiming for a seventh consecutive yellow jersey before he retires at the end of the Tour on July 24, finished with all the main contenders for the race’s main prize, including Germany’s Jan Ullrich.
Boonen thus wins his second stage of the race and his fourth overall, following his easy win on Sunday’s first bunch sprint.
The 24-year-old from Antwerp, considered one of the most powerful sprinters in the peloton, held off Austrian Peter Wrolich of the Gerolsteiner team, with Australian Robbie McEwen, of Davitamon, picking up his second consecutive third place.
Boonen also reinforced his lead in the points classification, whose prize is the green jersey. — Sapa-AFP