Tour de France: Peleton slips up but Millar still poised to strike

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Feillu was part of a four-man breakaway on the 130-mile stage from the Breton port of Saint Malo who struggled through wind and rain and a trade union protest by strikers from Saint Nazaire.

Red star: Samuel Dumoulin (left) crosses the finish line to win the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Saint-Malo and Nantes

The peleton is renowned for its ability to chase down breakaway groups. But having allowed Feillu and Samuel Dumoulin, William Frischkorn and Paolo Longo Borghini to stretch their advantage to 14min 50sec at one point, they found they could not reel them in for once.

That meant disappointment for Britain's Mark Cavendish as the wide, flat run-in to the finish appeared suited to his sprinting ability.

Kitted out: Romain Feillu puts on the overall leader's yellow jersey at the end of the third stage

Instead, Dumoulin outsprinted the other three to win Stage Three and Feillu assumed the overall lead ahead of today's time trial in Cholet.

The Frenchman has a 35-second lead over Borghini and is 1min 45sec ahead of previous leader Alejandro Valverde, with Scot David Millar one second further adrift.

Feillu said: 'At the end I was the one doing most of the work because I had the yellow jersey as a prize. For me it doesn't matter, the stage win or the yellow jersey, it's equal. 'I don't know if I can keep my advantage. I'll see how I recover from this effort.

I've heard that the yellow jersey brings wings.' Millar will be confident he can claim the coveted jersey in today's time trial.

The main danger is Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, the man who won last year's Prologue time trial in London.

Millar holds a six-second lead over Cancellara and will seek to maintain that over a short 18.3-mile course in the Loire region that could also be affected by the wind buffeting the riders yesterday.

There were numerous crashes throughout the day, with Spanish rider Angel Gomez coming off worst. He was left in agony on the ground 16 miles from the finish and forced to abandon the Tour.