Big day for locals on Tour 

Frenchman Romain Feillu seized the overall lead as compatriot Samuel Dumoulin won the third stage in a day of upsets on the Tour de France on Tuesday.

Agritubel's Feillu, the first local to wear the yellow jersey on the Tour since Cyril Dessel two years ago, was third behind Cofidis's Dumoulin and Garmin-Chipotle's William Frischkorn of the United States.

Dumoulin, however, proved the best sprinter of a breakaway quartet that parted company with the peloton one kilometre after the start of the 208-km stage from St Malo to Nantes.

"I knew that I was well placed in the general classification and that if we were to go all the way, I would pull on the jersey," Feillu, whose start to the season has been hampered by toxoplasmosis, told a news conference.

"We (Frenchmen) proved that we were not worse than the other riders in the peloton," said Dumoulin, who had to pull out of the 2004 Tour after colliding with a dog.

The top three and Paolo Longo Borghini of Italy opened a 14-minute lead, fighting heavy rain showers and gusty winds to wrongfoot those who had anticipated a mass finish.

Spaniard Angel Litu Gomez was forced to withdraw and was taken to a Nantes hospital for medical checks after injuring his left hip in a crash at a traffic divider that split the peloton.

Valverde close

Spain's Alejandro Valverde, who was wearing the yellow jersey, and race favourite Cadel Evans of Australia stayed in the main pack that crossed the line two minutes and three seconds behind the winner.

Leading contenders Riccardo Ricco of Italy and Russian Denis Menchov lost a further 38 seconds.

Valverde is now fourth overall, one minute and 45 minutes behind Feillu, who may not have long in the yellow jersey as Tuesday's stage will be a 29.5-km solo effort against the clock.

"We thought the teams of the sprinters would cooperate more to chase behind the breakers but they did not seize the opportunity they had to win a stage despite the fact the course suited them perfectly," said Valverde.

"We knew that if it was not today we were supposed to lose the yellow jersey tomorrow so that it does not change a lot of things for us."

Evans lies ninth, only one second further behind the Spaniard.

Briton David Millar, eighth in the overall standings one-minute 46 seconds adrift, and Swiss Fabian Cancellara, 34th six seconds further behind, will be the main contenders for the overall lead after Wednesday's time trial.

Obstructed

The leading quartet was briefly obstructed by a group of protesters from the port of St Nazaire some 58 kms before the line.

The riders worked their way through without too much difficulty, with Tour director Christian Prudhomme begging the protesters to clear the road before

the arrival of the peloton.

Police then pushed away the demonstrators and the road was clear when the main bunch passed seven minutes later.