Thor Hushovd defends Tour lead on stage 3

OLONNE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — Thor Hushovd of Norway was defending his race leader's yellow jersey as riders set out on the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday.

Hushovd, the world champion, took the overall lead after his Garmin-Cervelo narrowly won Sunday's team time trial.

With Monday's 123-mile route from Olonne-sur-Mer to Redon favoring sprinters like Hushovd, he will be lookng to keep the jersey another day.

British sprinter Mark Cavendish and Hushovd's teammate Tyler Farrar will also be challenging for the win.

Defending Tour champion Alberto Contador can ill afford to lose more time after making a bad start to the race. The Spaniard is in 75th place and trails his main rival Andy Schleck, last year's runner-up, by 1 minute, 38 seconds.