Mark Scanlon was, once again, in the thick of the action in today's third stage of the Tour de France as the Sligo man assisted his AG2R teammate Jean-Patrick Nazon to victory.
Scanlon formed part of the AG2R pack in the Waterloo (Belgium) to Waseqhal (France) stage and at one point headed the group with one kilometre to go to help protect Frencham Nazon during the finish and ensure victory.
Nazon came under pressure from T-Mobile's Erik Zabel, who finished second, in the latter part of the 210km stage and also from Australia's Robbie McEwan of the Lotto team.
"I was well placed towards the front after the cobbled sections and decided to give it everything," said on the BBC. "The team did an excellent job and I dedicate this victory to them. I am very happy."
McEwan, who won yesterday's stage, and finished third today means he assumes the overall lead from overnight leader Thor Hushovd and will now wear the yellow jersey. McEwen leads by a second overall from Fabian Cancellara, with race favourite Lance Armstrong fifth, 16 seconds back.
The five-hour stage also contained drama of the wrong sort when a number of riders crashed in the difficult conditions - sometimes on cobbled streets. One of Spain's yellow jersey contenders Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) crashed after 143km.
Veteran Italian Marco Velo, who crashed in the same incident, was not so fortunate as the Fassa Bartolo rider was left with broken collarbone after being thrown off into a ditch, which means his Tour is now over.