Argentinian Juan Jose Haedo of the Saxo Bank team took out the 189km long third stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico, from Terranuova Bracciolini to Perugia, on Friday. American Tyler Farrar finished second to retain the race leader's blue jersey, with Haedo moving up to second in the overall standings.

  

Farrar leads Haedo by five seconds with Dutchman Lars Boom, an all-rounder who is a contender for overall victory, a further second back in third. For the second consecutive day Norway's world champion Thor Hushovd did most of the work for Farrar, bringing the American to the finish line before peeling off.

  

With British sprint king Mark Cavendish struggling to keep the pace again, the coast looked clear for yet another Garmin-Cervelo win. Farrar, however, appeared to run out of juice yards before the finish line as Haedo's top end speed came to the fore. Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre finished fourth, with HTC-Highroad's Cavendish down in fifth and Australian Robbie McEwen in sixth.