Kessler storms to stage win

Matthias Kessler produced a strong finish to win an action-packed third stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday as world champion Tom Boonen claimed the yellow jersey.

A five-man breakaway of Jose Luis Arrieta, Unai Etxebarria, Christophe Laurent, Jerome Pineau and Jens Voigt had led for much of the day but they were reeled in close to the finish and Kessler made the most of his opportunity to take the victory.

Boonen, who finished fourth on Tuesday, now has a one-second lead over Michael Rogers at the top of the leaderboard at the end of stage three, which saw race favourite Alejandro Valverde retire with a broken collarbone.