Triathlon Daily

Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) slipped into the leader’s jersey on Wednesday as Kjell Carlstrom (Liquigas) won the third stage of Paris-Nice. The 165.5km jaunt between Fleurie and St. Etienne began with an early break by Carlstrom, Bradley McGee (CSC) and Clement Lhotellerie (Skil-Shimano), who took off just 8km from the start and had a lead of more than five minutes 12km up the road. The trio stayed away over the Cote de Plantigny, the Cote de St. Martin-en-haut, the Cote de l’Aubepin and the Cote de la Croix Blanche, building a margin of 10 minutes at one point. On the final ascent, the category-1 Col de Croix de Chaubouret, the lead had been trimmed to just four minutes. Race leader Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) had blown up and dropped back. [nid:73199]As Chavanel launched an attack from the bunch, followed by Damien Cunego (Lampre), Carlstrom and Lhotellerie shelled McGee and raced on toward the finish in St. Etienne, taking a lead of just 1:40 over the Chaubouret. Behind, Chavanel and Cunego were joined by a larger group, but the numbers would not help their pursuit — Lhotellerie pulled the final 2km to the line, where Carlstrom came around him for the stage win. Forty-three seconds later, Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole) took the bunch dash for third. In the overall, Chavanel assumed the race lead with a two-second margin over Karsten Kroon (CSC) and a further second over Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse D’Epargne). Stay tuned for a complete report from VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood, photos from Graham Watson and complete results. Stage 3: Top 10 1. Kjell Carlström (Liquigas), 165.5km in 4:39:14 2. Clément Lhotellerie (Skil-Shimano), same time 3. Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole), at 0:43 4. Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), s.t 5. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas), s.t. 6. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r-La Mondiale), s.t. 7. Robert Gesink (Rabobank), s.t. 8. Damiano Cunego (Lampre), s.t. 9. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse D’Epargne), s.t. 10. Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi), s.t. Overall (after 3 stages) 1. Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), 12:37:01 2. Karsten Kroon (Team CSC), at 0:02 3. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse D’epargne, at 0:03 4. Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi), at 0:08 5. Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), at 0:14 6. Manuel Garate Juan (Quick Step), at 0:18 7. Yaroslav Popovych (Silence-Lotto), at 00:19 8. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r-La Mondiale), at 0:21 9. Robert Gesink (Rabobank), s.t. 10. Alexander Efimkin (Quick Step), at 0:34