Postpublished at 17:02 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
And that's where I'll leave you for today. Thanks for your texts, tweets and company. Same time same place tomorrow? See you then.
Summary
Race is neutralised at 15:00 BST after a crash involving several riders
Joaquim Rodriguez wins stage three
Chris Froome holds the yellow jersey after finishing second
Germany's Tony Martin is one second behind Froome in the overall standings
Postpublished at 17:02 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Geraint on stage fourpublished at 17:01 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Image source, Tour de FranceTuesday's fourth stage promises to be just as hairy. Don't take my word for it though. Here's Geraint Thomas's thoughts:
"Last year Team Sky didn't have the best of days on the cobbles, when Froome was forced to abandon, but personally I did pretty well. It's definitely a stressful day, but I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to it again.
"It's certainly a big day for the teams with riders competing for the overall victory.
"Everybody will be stressing about that and you've just got to concentrate on being in a good position at the front. The only problem is that's what 180 other riders want to do. It's all about fighting for position for when most of the cobbled sections start in the final 50km or so."
Words from Froomepublished at 16:59 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Here's Chris Froome: "It's an amazing feeling to be in the yellow. I would never have believed it at the beginning of the stage. These punchy climbs are really not my sort of thing. I'm better at longer climbs.
"I've got my team-mates to thank for keeping me safe. I wouldn't say its too early to take the yellow jersey. I'd definitely rather be in this position than having to make time up on my rivals."
Cobbles coming uppublished at 16:56 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
It's going to be a big day on Tuesday with seven sections of cobbles threatening to offer further disruption to the riders. Last year, Chris Froome didn't actually get to the cobbles, crashing and abandoning several kilometres before the race reached them.
It was wet and slippery last year. Dry and dusty is the forecast for Tuesday.
Postpublished at 16:53 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Yellow Jersey
ClassificationChris Froome gets his first yellow jersey since winning in 2013. He holds aloft the obligatory bunch of flowers and teddy bear. He looks incredibly fresh as he wanders off to share his spoils with his team-mates.
Greipel in greenpublished at 16:52 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Green Jersey
ClassificationGermany's Andre Greipel retains the green points jersey and leads that category on 75 points.
Sagan in whitepublished at 16:51 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
White Jersey
ClassificationTinkoff-Saxo confirms that Peter Sagan will wear the white jersey as the race's best young (under-25) rider. Sagan finished 40 seconds behind stage winner Rodriguez.
Tweet us via #bbccyclingpublished at 16:48 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Former British cyclist Sir Chris Hoy on Twitter:, external That will have stung the legs a bit!! Great effort from @chrisfroome
Postpublished at 16:44 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Froome picked up six bonus seconds for finishing second, enough to catapult him to the top of the standings. That means Tony Martin has been denied the yellow jersey for the second day running because of the reintroduction of bonus seconds.
General classificationpublished at 16:40 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Yellow Jersey
Classification1. Chris Froome (Sky)
2. Tony Martin (Etixx) +01sec
3. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +13secs
4. Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal) +26secs
5. Greg van Avermaet (BMC) +28secs
Stage three resultpublished at 16:39 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha)
2. Chris Froome (Sky) same time
3. Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R) +04secs
4. Dan Martin (Cannondale) +05secs
5. Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal), +08secs
Tweet us via #bbccyclingpublished at 16:37 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Lee Jones: Great ride from Froome and sends a warning to his rivals.
Matt Salisbury: Good result for Froome - few more crucial seconds over his main rivals. Yellow Jersey a bonus this early on.
Matt Taggart: It's a long way to Paris, that could be a lot of energy-sapping defence coming very early for Team Sky.
Tweet us via #bbccyclingpublished at 16:36 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Wow. Who saw that one coming then? Be honest! I certainly didn't. Fabian Cancellara is still out on the road and getting ready to tackle the Mur de Huy. Tony Martin is slumped on the side of the road, draining a bottle of juice. Tough luck for the German.
Postpublished at 16:34 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Rob Hayles
Former GB cyclist on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra"Will they want it this early on? Well, they've got it and they've got a lot of work to do now."
Froome takes yellowpublished at 16:33 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Yellow Jersey
ClassificationChris Froome is confirmed as the new leader of the Tour de France. He takes the lead by one second from Tony Martin.
Postpublished at 16:32 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Early indications are that Froome finished 11 seconds ahead of Nibali, 18 seconds clear of Contador. Add a few bonus seconds for finishing second and his day just keeps on getting better.
Postpublished at 16:31 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Rob Hayles
Former GB cyclist on BBC Radio 5 live sports extraThat is a big victory for Froome. What an extraordinary finish. He may not have won but he put time on his rivals.
Postpublished at 16:30 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Chris Froome finishes second. He may be a second or two behind Rodriguez but he has gained more seconds on his main rivals Contador, Nibali and Quintana.
Rodriguez winspublished at 16:29 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
Image source, Getty ImagesJoaquim Rodriguez wins stage three.
Postpublished at 16:29 British Summer Time 6 July 2015
But back comes Froome - he is having another sensational day. Contador and Nibali are nowhere.