( CNN ) -- Thor Hushovd won a brutal third stage of the Tour de France which saw Fabian Cancellara reclaim the leader 's yellow jersey and the hopes of a number of race favorites , including Lance Armstrong , dented . The 213 kilometers from Wanze to Arenberg contained seven stretches of cobblestones , which caused the peloton to split into small groups after a series of crashes and punctures . Hushovd and Paris-Roubaix winner Cancellara were in a six-strong group which forged ahead to gain valuable time on their rivals . Neither man is a serious contender to win the Tour de France , but the group contained two men who are , Cancellara 's Saxo Bank teammate Andy Schleck and world champion Cadel Evans of Australia . Hushovd took the sprint for the stage honors from Britain 's Geraint Thomas , the Sky rider moving up to second overall for his efforts , with all six awarded the same time . Behind them , Sky 's Bradley Wiggins , fourth overall last year , improved his chances by finishing in the second group , 53 seconds down , with Russian Denis Menchov , a former winner of the Giro D'Italia and Tour of Spain . Race favorite and defending champion Alberto Contador came in a further 20 seconds down after puncturing in the run in to the finish . But seven-time Tour winner Armstrong lost valuable ground on his main rivals after a puncture held up the Radio Shack team leader as he conceded two minutes and eight seconds to the leading group . He has slipped to 18th in the overall standings , two minutes 30 seconds behind Cancellara . Armstrong admitted it had been a `` very frustrating '' day for his team and that for all his preparations on the cobbles it had proved daunting . `` When we hit the key sections -- I ca n't lie , I was on the limit . So it was a lot different to training , '' he told AFP . And for Schleck 's brother and Saxo teammate Frank , the race is over after a heavy crash on the cobbles . France 's Sylvain Chavanel , who held the yellow jersey after winning the second stage , also punctured twice and lost too much time to remain in the lead . The stage victory for Cervelo 's Hushovd strengthens his grip on the points leader 's green jersey with arch-rival Mark Cavendish of HTC-Columbia out of the placings . Like Cancellara , Hushovd is a specialist in the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic which also features the feared pave cobblestones which caused such havoc to the Tour riders .
Norway 's Thor Hushovd of Cervelo team wins third stage of the Tour de France . Fabian Cancellara finishes in six-strong group with Hushovd to reclaim yellow jersey . Previous leader Sylvain Chavanel loses time after punctures as does Lance Armstrong . - The Giro d'Italia concludes with a sprint finish for second place by Alberto Contador and his Astana team.