Nazon nukes sprint

The flat 210 km of Tuesday's stage profile were made spectacular by the inclusion of two sectors of cobblestones, featured in a Tour de France for the first time since 1985 and borrowed from the spring classic Paris-Roubaix. .

"I'm nervous," five-time defending Tour champ Lance Armstrong said before the stage's start, echoing an emotion shared by the entirety of the pack -- except Magnus Backstedt.

On April 11 of this year, the Alessio rider won Paris-Roubaix, becoming the first Swede in history to win the super classic also called "The Hell of the North."

"I feel really at home on the stones," Backstedt said at Tuesday's start line.

He then offered what proved to be a prescient race prediction:

"We could see some dramatic changes today. It's going to be a very strange race and it will be absolute chaos."

Chaos it was, starting just prior to the peloton's entrance to the first sector of cobbles, a punishing 3.9 km stretch of the rough stuff 64 km from the finish in Wasquehal, France.

The pack, already nervy, turned positively frantic as the riders jostled for the front positions in the bunch -- traditionally the safest place to sit when tackling the unpredictable topography of the cobbles.

A touch-of-wheels tumble brought down some 15 riders, including overall race favourite Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) and Fassa Bortolo rider Marco Velo.

Velo was the crash's worst-for-wear, pitched into a roadside ditch, the left-shoulder area of his jersey quickly saturating with blood.

Diagnosed with a broken collarbone, Velo, a key mass-sprint lead-out lieutenant to Alessandro Petacchi, was evacuated to hospital by ambulance, ending his Tour de France.

Mayo, for his part, shook off the shock and rejoined the race, the left side of his shorts tattered to shreds, revealing a wide swatch of road rash on his thigh.

US Postal was given quick word of Mayo's predicament. The American team congregated at the front with one mission in mind: Drive the nail deep into Mayo's Tour de France coffin.

US Postal, joined at the front by Jan Ullrich's T-Mobile team and the Phonak formation of Tyler Hamilton, splintered the race in two, quickly relegating a second pack -- with both Mayo and race leader Thor Hushovd -- to a two-minute deficit.

Driving the pace into the stratosphere, the American team mastered the rest of the race -- including a final 1.1 km of cobbles 25 km from the finish -- never giving the Mayo-Hushovd group the slightest chance of latching back on.

Mayo's Basque Euskaltel formation hyperventilated to plug the hole, but their leader -- winner of June's Dauphine Libere -- rolled home at a major deficit of 3 min 53 sec.

Norwegian Thor Hushovd, also relegated to the 59-strong second peloton, lost his yellow jersey of overall leader to Aussie Robbie McEwen (Lotto), who now sits atop the standings, one second better than prologue winner Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo).

Tuesday's Stage 3 exploded from the get-go, animated by a two-man escape -- Jens Voigt (CSC) and Bram de Groot (Rabobank) -- that pushed through 165 km of freedom before being gobbled back 45 km from the finish.

In the final push to the line, US Postal, T-Mobile and Phonak gave way to the Fassa Bortolo sprint train, working -- in vain -- for their designated sprinter Alessandro Petacchi.

The 30-year-old Italian, counting just two disappointing eighth-place sprint finishes in the race's first two stages, faded further Tuesday, slotting in at 72nd on the stage after a last-corner hiccup pushed him five seconds adrift.

Snaking through a maze of tight turns in the final two kilometres, the front lines of the lead peloton exploded 200 metres from the line.

Monday's stage winner Robbie McEwen (Lotto) led things out, pushing the pack into a full sprint that weaved all over the road before Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2R) -- the sprint winner on Paris' Champs Elysees last year -- threw his bike to the line for the win, just holding off a hard-charging Erik Zabel.

"Yes!" Frenchman Nazon said (in English) after the finish, lost in the euphoria of his victory.

Aussie McEwen usurped the yellow jersey of race leader, one second better than prologue winner Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo).

Lance Armstrong survived safe to the finish, ideally placed in the overall standings, now sitting fifth (16 seconds adrift) on the eve of Wednesday's crucial team time trial, a 64.5 km haul from Cambrai to Arras, France.