Top 10 stage finish for Roche

Ireland's Nicolas Roche was preparing for the third stage of the Tour de France this morning after notching a top-10 finish in yesterday's 187km trip from Monaco to Brignoles.

The son of former Tour winner Stephen Roche finished in eighth place yesterday behind stage winner Mark Cavendish of Britain, who will today don the green jersey for the first time.

Roche is currently in 43rd place in general classification on his Tour debut, with the yellow jersey on the back of Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara.

American Lance Armstrong, making his much-publicised return to the Tour, is currently 10th in GC.

Today's stage takes the riders 196.5km from Marseille to La Grande-Motte.