Leopard Trek Daniele Bennati won this afternoon's 6.8km time-trial at the Circuit de la Sarthe to increase his race lead.
Britain's David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) led for most of the stage, but his mark of 8-19 was surprisingly eclipsed by by sprinter Bennati, who was the last man to leave the start-house.
Nevertheless, this is Millar's best result of the year and moves him up to second overall. The 34 year old is getting back into shape after a debilitating bout of flu, which caused him to miss the cobbled Classics this year.
It wasn't all bad news for Garmin-Cervelo: Millar's young teammate Michel Kreder took the bunch sprint win in this morning's short morning second stage.
The race concludes on Friday with a 167km stage from Le Mans to Bonnetable.
Results
Circuit de la Sarthe: stage three time-trial, Angers, 6.8km
1. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek 8-13
2. David Millar (Gbr) Garmin-Cervelo at 6secs
3. David Zabriskie (Usa) Garmin-Cervelo
General classification after stage three
1. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard-Trek 7-24-18
2. David Millar (Gbr) Garmin-Cervelo at 16secs
3. David Zabriske (Usa) Garmin-Cervelo
4. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ at 17secs
5. Blel Kadri (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale at 18secs
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