Huge Crash Takes Out Riders on Stage 3 of the Tour de France

The Tour de France only began on Saturday, but it is already over for some riders after a huge crash on Monday. 

Midway through Stage 3, around 20 riders went down after William Bonnet crashed near the front of the peloton. 

Cycling Weekly reported that "several riders were forced to abandon the race" due to the crash. Race organizers temporarily halted the stage, as "the number of doctors that had to stay behind at the scene would have meant it was unsafe for the peloton to ride ahead," according to the Daily Mail's Nicholas Godden.

Among those out of the race is Giant-Alpecin's Tom Dumoulin, who was in third place at the time of the crash, per the Guardian. Yellow jersey leader Fabian Cancellara also crashed, and while he was able to continue, he lost time and the leader's jersey.

A few hours after the stage finished, Cancellara withdrew from the race with two fractured vertebrae. 

Team Sky's Chris Froome, who finished second in the stage, took the overall race lead.

The Tour de France runs until July 26.

[Twitter, Vine]