Steels Making His Move

In an expertly timed sprint to the finish, Tom Steels of Belgium surged ahead Tuesday to win his second consecutive stage of the Tour de France.

As the world’s biggest cycling race passed through the northern region of Brittany, Jaan Kirsipuu of Estonia kept the leader’s yellow jersey.

Steels moved into second place overall with his third-stage victory. Lance Armstrong of Texas dropped to fourth and U.S. Postal Service teammate George Hincapie was sixth.

After a day of drama Monday, marked by a spectacular fall on an ocean causeway that all but ruined the chances of some top riders, Tuesday’s stage unfolded in more classic style.

As happens often in the Tour’s early, flat stages, designed for sprinters, two riders broke away early and maintained their lead for 76 miles but were caught by the pack late in the stage.

The pack maintained a swift pace--an average of 27 mph--and the final sprint came at a blistering 42 mph.

The 122-mile route rolled through picturesque Breton countryside, from the city of Nantes, which straddles the Loire River, to the town of Laval.

Steels, with a winning time of 4 hours 29 minutes 27 seconds, was followed by Germany’s Erik Zabel, Stuart O’Grady of Australia, Nicola Minali of Italy and Hincapie. Armstrong finished 24th.

The dramatic crash Monday, which caused two riders to retire with injuries, took another casualty when Javier Pascual Llorente of Spain, also injured in that crash, retired early in Tuesday’s stage.

In a reminder of last summer’s drug scandal, cycling’s governing body said 16 cyclists--none elite riders--have been certified to race with a hematocrit level that exceeds the 50% limit. The hematocrit level measures the proportion of red blood cells in a blood sample--one sign of drug use, since the substances increase red blood cells.

The International Cycling Union noted that 3% of the global population has a hematocrit level higher than 50%.

It wasn’t clear how many, if any, of the riders issued those certificates are racing in this year’s Tour. U.S. racer Jonathan Vaughters has one, but he was injured in Monday’s crash on the Passage du Gois and forced to abandon the race.

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Tour de France

A look at Tuesday’s third stage:

* Stage: A 122-mile route from Nantes to the Breton town of Laval in northwestern France.

* Stage winner: Tom Steels of Belgium, in a final sprint. Steels, of the Mapei team, finished in 4 hours 29 minutes 27 seconds.

* Others: Germany’s Erik Zabel was second and Stuart O’Grady of Australia finished third. Two riders broke away early and maintained their lead for 76 miles but were caught by the pack late in the stage.

* Overall: Jaan Kirsipuu of Estonia, who finished 14th, held his lead. By winning his second consecutive stage, Steels moved up to second place. O’Grady stayed in third, and American Lance Armstrong dropped to fourth.

* Next stage: Laval to Blois, 121 miles.