Baden Cooke (La Francaise des Jeux.com) has won Stage 3 of the Tour of the Mediterranean. The Australian snared a bunch sprint to take the 60-km run from Seillans to La Motte in 1:18:46. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) finished second, and Graziano Gasparre (De Nardi) finished third. Bram De Groot (Rabobank) remains the overall leader.

Because the stage was short, the racing began early. At 15 km, Mederic Clain (Cofidis) attacked and took Yuri Krivtsov (Jean Delatour), Frank Vandenbroucke (Quick Step), and others with him. Eventually, Vandenbroucke attacked with Stephane Goubert (Jean Delatour). The bunch reeled in the escapees, and Quick Step set the pace and attempted to set up Bettini for the win. Cooke foiled the Italian, however.

In the overall, De Groot leads Bettini by 0:01 and Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) by 0:07. Stage 4 will be a 100-km run from La Motte to Mont Faron that will probably shake up the standings. The final 10 km will be uphill and should see aggressive riding. Who will prevail? Who will take the race lead? Check in at http://www.roadcycling.com/ and find out!