Britain's Chris Froome has taken the overall lead in the Tour de France after finishing second in the third stage of the race this afternoon.

The 30-year-old finished just behind Joaquim Rodriguez, in a race that was temporarily neutralised due to two crashes.

Froome earned six bonus seconds, which has taken him top of the general classification and one second ahead of Germany's Tony Martin.

"I definitely didn't wake up today thinking I was going to be in yellow by this evening," Froome told Sky Sports News. "That was a real surprise. I knew there would be gaps up on that final climb but I really didn't expect it to be that significant, to be able to get into yellow."

Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara had gone into the race as the overall leader, but he lost 12 minutes after being involved in a pile-up.