| Team Columbia Owned and Operated by Highroad Sports, Inc. in San Luis Obispo, CAStage 3: Saint-Malo - Nantes (Jul. 7, 12:00 AM - 11:00 PM)
Team Columbia's Kim Kirchen managed to defend the Green Points jersey today in the flat stage from Sante Malo to Nantes. The stage ended with the four person breakaway staying away, eliminating any chance of the sprinters going for a stage win.
"Not all of our hopes came true today," said Team Director Rolf Aldag. "Unfortunately the whole peloton doesn't have the same goals as we do and there was no chance the bring back the break."
An exciting finale saw frenchman Samuel Dumoulin win the stage, with his
compatriot Romain Feillu moving into the yellow jersey. Cavendish and Kirchen came in 6th and 7th in the bunch sprint with Kirchen keeping the lead in the green Points Jersey.
"In the end Mark didn't get the chance to win his first stage of the Tour de france," added Aldag. "But on the other hand, Kim defended the Green Jersey and made a little bit of time on a couple of other GC contenders so it wasn't such a bad day for us after all."
