The cobblestones of stage three took their toll on two leading Tour de France contenders on Tuesday, seven-time champion Lance Armstrong losing ground and Frank Schleck crashing out of the race.

Radioshack's Lance Armstrong cycles on a cobblestone road during the third stage of the Tour de France between Wanze and Arenberg-Porte Du Hainaut on Tuesday. [Fred Mons/Pool/Reuters]

Armstrong, who suffered a puncture, came in 2:08 behind stage winner Thor Hushovd of Norway. The American lost time to his rivals, including defending champion Alberto Contador and trails his former Astana teammate by 50 seconds.

Swiss Fabian Cancellara regained the yellow jersey.

"They took a knock," Armstrong said when asked about his chances of victory.

"We lost significant time," said the American, now 18th overall, 2:30 behind Cancellara.

Frank Schleck, fifth overall in the past two years, tumbled to the ground in the fourth of seven cobbled sectors on the day's menu and broke his collarbone.

The Saxo Bank rider will take no further part in the race. Teammate Cancellara, the Paris-Roubaix winner on the same roads in April, took the initiative on the first cobbles, 85kms from the line, and amply deserved to claim his yellow jersey back from Frances Sylvain Chavanel.

"I have mixed feelings. It was a great day for Saxo Bank but we lost Frank. When we heard that he'd crashed, I told Andy (Schleck) not to look back and to go for it," Swiss Cancellara said.

"It was a great chance to take time off Contador and Armstrong and that's what we did. Cadel (Evans) did the same."

Contador, who fared much better than expected on the cobbles, also lost a little time after breaking his wheel in the last two kilometers.

"Compared with other protagonists, we took some time except on Cadel and Andy," said his Astana team manager Yvon Sanquer.

Briton Bradley Wiggins, fourth last year, also limited the damage while Team Sky teammate Geraint Thomas shot to second overall, 23 seconds behind Cancellara.

"It's just another day in the Tour, and tomorrow is another day and you never try get too carried away over one day," Wiggins said.

After Frank Schleck, the most disappointed rider in the peloton was arguably Chavanel.

Winner of the previous stage, the Frenchman held a comfortable lead of nearly three minutes over the rest of the field at the start but a crash and two punctures ruined his dreams of sporting the yellow jersey as the Tour made it back into France.

"I lived a great day yesterday and today was hell. The crash and puncture did not help as I got more tired as the stage went," he said.

Chavanel was yesterday's man. The day belonged to Hushovd.

The Norwegian champion had been angered by the decision by the peloton, led by Cancellara, not to stage a sprint finish on Monday due to the poor conditions.

"Everybody knows what happened yesterday. I said to myself I want to forget what happened and focus on winning this stage," said Hushovd, determined to keep the points green jersey he won at the expense of Briton Mark Cavendish on the last Tour.