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Redon - American Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Cervelo upstaged the hopes of British sprint rival Mark Cavendish on his way to a maiden Tour de France victory on the third stage on Monday.
World champion Thor Hushovd of Norway kept possession of the race leader's yellow jersey as Garmin celebrated their second win on the trot, having won the 23km team time trial at Les Essarts on Sunday.
Cavendish, who has won a record 15 stages in the past three editions of the race, had a perfect lead-in to the finale by his dominant HTC-Highroad team.
However, the Isle of Man rider found the going tough after a final bend forced many riders to slow down and lose momentum. Despite a late burst, he could only finish fifth.
Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas rounded the bend on his own, but with no team-mates to follow up he was soon swamped by Garmin as Hushovd and New Zealander Julian Dean dragged Farrar towards the finish.
Frenchman Romain Feillu of Vacansoleil and Movistar Rojas launched late charges, but Farrar came over the finish half a bike length clear.
"It's fantastic, I've been working to get this for a long time," said Farrar.
"It's the first mass sprint of the Tour, and it's always a bit chaotic. But the team almost made it easy for me.
"We showed yesterday how strong our team is, winning the team time trial. It was a relief, and took the pressure off the shoulders.
"It just keeps on getting better now."
Although his win came on America's Independence Day, Farrar - who made a 'W' gesture shortly after crossing the line - immediately dedicated the victory to stricken friend Wouter Weylandt of Belgium.
Leopard-Trek team rider Weylandt was one of Farrar's best friends, but crashed to his death in the Giro d'Italia in early May.
"I want to dedicate this victory to Wouter," added Farrar, who is based in Belgium.
"It's been a horrible past few months. Everything that happened in the Giro, I've had a lot of ups and downs.
"In the end I wanted to come back and do something to pay tribute. This is the biggest race in the world, and I didn't know it would be possible, but I've trained really hard for this.
"At the moment I can't quite believe I've won it."
Results of the third stage of the Tour de France, a 198km ride from Olonne-sur-Mer to Redon on Monday:
1. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 4hr 40min 21sec
2. Romain Feillu (FRA/VAC) at 0:00sec
3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) 0:00
4. Sebastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 0:00
5. Mark Cavendish (IDM/HTC) 0:00
6. Thor Hushovd (NOR/GRM) 0:00
7. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 0:00
8. Borut Bozic (SLO/VAC) 0:00
9. Andre Greipel (GER/OLO) 0:00
10. Jimmy Engoulvent (FRA/SAU) 0:00
11. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS/KAT) 0:00
12. Sebastien Turgot (FRA/EUC) 0:00
13. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/SKY) 0:00
14. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 0:00
15. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0:00
16. Linus Gerdemann (GER/LEO) 0:00
17. William Bonnet (FRA/FDJ) 0:00
18. Andreas Kloden (GER/RSH) 0:00
19. Rob Ruijgh (NED/VAC) 0:00
20. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 0:00
21. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 0:00
22. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KAT) 0:00
23. Chris Horner (USA/RSH) 0:00
24. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 0:00
25. Gert Steegmans (BEL/QST) 0:00
26. Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL/OLO) 0:00
27. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 0:00
28. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 0:00
29. Arnold Jeannesson (FRA/FDJ) 0:00
30. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 0:00
31. Cyril Gautier (FRA/EUC) 0:00
32. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 0:00
33. Nicolas Roche (EIR/ALM) 0:00
34. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 0:00
35. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 0:00
36. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/EUS) 0:00
37. Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP/EUS) 0:00
38. Stuart O'Grady (AUS/LEO) 0:00
39. Christian Knees (GER/SKY) 0:00
40. Janez Brajkovic (SLO/RSH) 0:00
