Joaquim Rodriguez won the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday as Chris Froome struck a blow to his overall rivals.

Froome, the 2013 champion, took second on the crash-marred third stage over 159.5km from Antwerp to the infamous Mur (wall) de Huy in Belgium that saw four riders abandon.

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Froome gained several seconds on his main rivals, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana.

But his high finish coupled with six bonus seconds on the line was enough to give Team Sky leader Froome the yellow jersey by one second from German Tony Martin.

It was agonising for Martin once again as he has now spent three days within touching distance of the jersey without being able to snatch it.

Yet the main news of the day was the spectacular crash that saw four riders abandon as around 20 hit the deck.

Among them was the yellow jersey wearer Fabian Cancellara who, although able to continue, was visibly hurt and lost several minutes by the end.