Joaquim Rodriguez won a wreck-filled Stage 3 of the Tour de France, edging out Chris Froome in a summit finish. Froome will take over the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara thanks to six-second time bonus for taking second place. Tony Martin just missed the yellow jersey again, sitting one second behind Froome in the general classification.
2015 Tour de France results and standings, Stage 3: Joaquim Rodriguez emerges from wrecks with win
Joaquim Rodriguez emerged the victor out of several wrecks in Stage 3, while Chris Froome took over the yellow jersey with a second-place finish.
Massive crashes were the story of Stage 3. What should have been a fun and relatively safe ride to the top of the Mur de Huy -- sandwiched between Sunday's massive crosswinds and Tuesday's cobbles -- became chaos when William Bonnet nicked the wheel in front of him and slipped on a high-speed descent, taking out much of the peloton behind him. Moments later, a second crash occurred, taking out more riders and spreading out medical crew so thin that the race had to be suspended and neutralized for roughly 25 minutes before restarting with 50 kilometers to go.
Cancellara was involved in the first crash and rode the rest of the stage in wincing pain. He finished nearly 12 minutes off the front, dropping him far down the general classification after an excellent start to the tour. Tom Dumoulin, Simon Gerrans, William Bonnet and Dmitry Kozonchuk were forced to abandon.
Contador’s Tinkoff-Saxo team headed the peleton in the final five kilometers, but Froome was the biggest aggressor, besides Rodriguez who finished the race with a bandaged arm. Froome dug deep at the bottom of the Mur de Huy, to lead the peloton before being passed by Rodriguez.
Andre Greipel held onto the green jersey after winning 20 point in the intermediate sprint. Rodriguez was awarded the first King of the Mountains jersey, earning all of two points for winning the stage.
Stage 3 results
| Name | Team | Time | Gap |
| Joaquim Rodriguez | Katusha | 3:26:54 | |
| Christopher Froome | Sky | " | :00 |
| Alexis Vuillermoz | AG2R La Mondiale | 3:26:58 | :04 |
| Daniel Martin | Cannondale-Garmin | 3:26:59 | :05 |
| Tony Gallopin | Lotto-Soudal | 3:27:02 | :08 |
| Tejay Van Garderen | BMC | 3:27:05 | :11 |
| Vincenzo Nibali | Astana | " | " |
| Simon Yates | Orica Greenedge | " | " |
| Nairo Quintana | Movistar | " | " |
| Bauke Mollema | Trek | " | " |
General classification (yellow jersey) standings
| Name | Team | Time | Gap |
| Christopher Froome | Sky | 7:11:37 | |
| Tony Martin | Etixx-Quick Step | 7:11:38 | :01 |
| Tejay Van Garderen | BMC | 7:11:50 | :13 |
| Tony Gallopin | Lotto-Soudal | 7:12:03 | :26 |
| Greg Van Avermaet | BMC | 7:12:05 | :28 |
| Peter Sagan | Tinkoff-Saxo | 7:12:08 | :31 |
| Rigoberto Uran Uran | Etixx-Quick Step | 7:12:11 | :34 |
| Alberto Contador | Tinkoff-Saxo | 7:12:13 | :36 |
| Geraint Thomas | Sky | 7:12:40 | 1:03 |
| Zdenek Stybar | Etixx-Quick Step | 7:12:41 | 1:04 |
General Classification favorites
| Overall rank | Name | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1. | Christopher Froome | Sky | 7:11:37 | |
| 3. | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC | 7:11:50 | :13 |
| 8. | Alberto Contador | Tinkoff-Saxo | 7:12:13 | :36 |
| 13. | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana | 7:13:15 | 1:38 |
| 17. | Nairo Quintana | Movistar | 7:13:33 | 1:56 |
Points (green jersey) standings
| Name | Team | Points |
| Andre Greipel | Lotto-Soudal | 75 |
| Peter Sagan | Tinkoff Saxo | 48 |
| Christopher Froome | Sky | 40 |
| Mark Cavendish | Etixx-Quick Step | 37 |
| Fabian Cancellara | Trek | 35 |
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