Samuel Dumoulin of France won the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday by leading a small group of sprinters to the finish. French rider Romain Feillu was just beaten to the line and finished third, but has taken the race leader's yellow jersey from Alejandro Valverde, who led since winning Saturday's first stage. “I have always dreamed of winning a stage,” Dumoulin said. “I have felt good since the start of the year.” American rider William Frischkorn took second place, a fraction ahead of Feillu in third spot. As the race headed into the last 1.6 kilometers, Dumoulin pulled ahead briefly but Feillu stuck to his wheel and overtook him. Dumoulin then had the better acceleration and went ahead again about 300 meters from the line, and Frischkorn just edged out Feillu. Spanish rider Angel Gomez needed treatment on the roadside after crashing. Gomez, who races for the Saunier Duval team, was involved in a spill with two other riders, and lay still on the road for several moments as aides rushed to his help. He was taken away on a stretcher, although his injuries were not immediately known. French rider Matthieu Sprick of Bouygues Telecom, and Danish rider Nicki Sorensen of Team CSC, were also involved in the fall, which took place about 30 kilometers from the end. Both riders got up and did not appear to be hurt. The riders were briefly held up by protesters on Monday. The front four riders were stopped by protesters waving banners 58 kilometers from the finish line at Nantes. The protesters moved aside after talking with Tour director Christian Prudhomme. It was not immediately clear what the protest was about, although one banner featured a slogan about French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
