Stage 3

The road

How it was won

1. 1100 km to go

   The crash that stops the Tour

   A mass pile-up strews the road with bodies and bikes. Racing is neutralised for a full twenty minutes while the fallen count the layers of skin left behind; Fabian Cancellara rides on in yellow with a hand pressed to his hip, and will not start stage 4.

2. 231 km to go

   The wind turns again

   Ten kilometres after the restart Astana and Tinkoff feel the wind change and force a split, with Sky straight across. Cancellara is caught out; by the sprint at Havelange the yellow jersey group is eighteen seconds adrift.

3. 317 km to go

   Cancellara comes undone

   On the lower slopes of the Côte d'Ereffe the maillot jaune is dropped for good. With thirteen kilometres left his group is 2:22 down and Richie Porte is setting a murderous tempo for Froome.

4. 46 km to go

   The Cherave splinters everything

   Majka drives, Kwiatkowski follows with Froome welded to his wheel, and the bunch simply comes apart — Rui Costa and Pinot among the debris. Cancellara crests it 5:20 behind.

5. 5At the line

   Rodríguez on the Mur de Huy

   Nine hundred metres at an average of 9.6 per cent and 26 at its worst. Froome leads it out with Contador on his wheel and Quintana alongside; then Joaquim Rodríguez, road rash and all, jumps at the steepest ramp and simply keeps going. Froome sprints past Gallopin and finds nothing but empty tarmac ahead.

The result