The win means the French team occupy the top three in the general classification with Jens Voight and Bobby Julich chasing O'Grady, who extended his lead to 26 seconds.

The Australian paid tribute to his team-mates after they pulled off one of the surprises of the Tour.

He said: "It was a very consistent effort all day. We just kept a nice smooth pace and it paid off.

"Another day in yellow's nice but to win a stage in yellow with your team, that's perfect."

Festina took third but could not stop Christophe Moreau from being shunted to eighth in the general classification as ONCE's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Joseba Beloki and Carlo Sastre were boosted by their team's performance.

Lance Armstrong's US Postal Service survived the fall of two of their riders to come fourth, one minute 26 seconds off the pace.

Vuelta a Espana winner Roberto Heras and Christian Vandevelde collided and the American team were lucky just to see two of their number hit the tarmac.

In the time-trial, a team is measured on the performance of the first five to finish so Armstrong, with six riders still with him, could have carried on without the fallen duo.

But the Texan, who is chasing a third consecutive Tour title, decided to allow the pair to catch up, a decision which may have cost his team a place in the top three.

Fortunately for Armstrong, two of the biggest threats to his crown also had disappointing days.

Santiago Botero's Kelme put in a disappointing shift and finished 12 seconds behind USPS while Jan Ullrich and Telekom were dealt a blow when Erik Zabel suffered a puncture.

The sprint king was a big loss to the men in pink who finished 1:50 adrift of top spot.

Britain's David Millar continues to struggle with the injuries he picked up in a fall in the prologue and had to allow his Cofidis team-mates to finish without him.