Check out the photos from Stage 3 of the Tour de France.

Check out Behind the lines of stage three of the Tour de France. Tough day on the cobbles, but tomorrow is another day. Also, check out the video of Chris Horner talking about all the carnage in Stage two.

Tour de France
Stage 3: Wanze to Arenberg – Porte  Du Hainaut, 213km/132mi
By Cathy Mehl
 
The long-anticipated stage on the cobbles of northern France finally arrived on Tuesday’s stage three.  Tackling seven sectors of pavé totaling 13.2km of bone-jarring cobblestones, the peloton of 191 riders took their chances on the famed roads used in the one-day classic Paris-Roubaix.  Some won…some lost.  Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong punctured at just the wrong time and lost contact with his working group.  Teammate Yaroslav Popovych was there to help Armstrong get back into the action before Lance went solo to bridge a gap and rejoin a chasing group.  But the 7-time Tour winner lost time on the stage and slipped out of the top ten.
“Like you see a lot of times in these races it’s a question of luck, good or bad, technical issues, flat tires and crashes.  And we saw all of the above,” said Armstrong to the press after he finished the stage.  “Frank Schleck crashed and that split the group and then I got a flat and was behind.”  Asked about putting the cobble sections into a grand tour course, Lance answered, “Going in I thought it was a good idea to have this stage and I’m not going to change my mind.  I think it was a dynamic stage.  You can say it was a disadvantage to the climbers but look who was in the front today, a great team that rode a great race today.  I think there is a place for that in this race.”

Plain Stage
Tues, July 6—starts at 1235 local time

About Stage 3
By Chris Brewer
A day at the Tour that some are looking to with relish, others with fear and trepidation.  In an homage to the one day Classics Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, today’s stage features 13km of cobblestone roads over the final 78km.  If it’s bad weather the roads will be truly dangerous, if good, dust clouds could still block your vision.  And everyone will be trying to stay safe at the front, and there's only room for a few!