Robbie McEwen (AUS) did it again today, winning his third stage of the 2006 Tour de France, edging out Italy’s Danielle Bennati and yellow jersey wearer Tom Boonen (BEL) at the finish line of today’s 189 km stage from Lisieux to Vitre.

A three-man break took of after about 74 km and they weren’t caught again until there were only 4 km left in the day’s racing. By then, it was up to the teams to get their sprinters into the best position for the final surge to the line. In the end, Robbie McEwen credited his lead-out man, Geert Steegmans (BEL) for putting him the optimum spot from which to launch his victorious assault.
At the end of today’s stage, here are the standings in the general classification:

1. Tom Boonen (BEL) Quickstep
2. Robbie McEwen (AUS) Davitamon-Lotto at 12″
3. Michael Rogers (AUS) T-Mobile at 21″
4. Oscar Freire (ESP) Rabobank at 25″
5. George Hincapie (USA) Discovery at 25″
6. Thor Hushovd (NOR) Credit Agricole at 27″
7. Paolo Salvoldelli (ITA) Discovery at 35″
8. Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak at 36″
9. Vladimir Karpets (RUS) Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears at 37″
10. Sergei Gontchar (UKR) T-Mobile at 37″