After Sunday's rain and brutal crosswinds, the sun made a welcome return for the 159.5-kilometer route from Anvers to Huy in Belgium. But stage three of this year's Tour de France proved to be anything but plain sailing.
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There was 65 kilometers of the stage to go when a high-speed crash took out around 20 riders. The pile up caused the race to be stopped ("neutralized") temporarily allowing those involved in the collision time to recover and rejoin the peleton. The accident was one of the worst in the tour's history.
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Riders and their bikes lay in crumpled heaps for several minutes as team and race officials rushed to their aid.
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Overnight leader Fabian Cancellara was thrown over his handlebars. The Swiss rider fractured his back earlier in the season but managed to get back on his bike and struggle manfully to the finish. Others were unable to continue. William Bonnet of France, Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin, Australia's Simon Gerrans and Dmitry Kozontchuk of Russia were all forced to retire from the race. Cancellara would later withdraw himself after it was revealed he had suffered another fractured vertebrae.
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French rider William Bonnet lies battered, bloodied and bruised at the roadside following the crash. A subsequent trip to hospital revealed that he also had a fractured vertebrae.
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Spain's Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, rider for Team Katusha went on to win the stage ...
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... while Germany's Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) took possession of the green (sprinter's) jersey.
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But it was Team Sky's Chris Froome who finished as overall leader. The Briton, who won the tour in 2013, leads Germany's Tony Martin by a second with U.S. rider Tejay Van Garderen lying third, 13 seconds behind Froome.
