MODESTO, Calif. (AP) Levi Leipheimer bumped wheels with Lance Armstrong, but recovered to maintain his lead after Thor Hushovd won the third stage Tuesday in the rain-soaked Tour of California.

Hushovd claimed the 101-mile stage from San Jose to Modesto in 4 hours, 28 minutes and 12 seconds, after which two-time winner Leipheimer was still 24 seconds ahead of Australian Michael Rogers.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who began the day fourth overall, finished in the main group with Leipheimer. Armstrong remained 30 seconds behind his teammate Leipheimer.

Armstrong wasn’t available after the stage, but Astana team spokesman Phillipe Maertens said Armstrong spent the day “working for Levi. There was nothing special today.”

Race organizers shortened the stage for safety reasons by eliminating the second of two finishing circuits and reducing the length of the neutralized stage start.

For the third straight day, strong rain fell throughout the stage, and it took its toll. American riders Ted King, Omer Kim and Ian Macgregor individually crashed during the stage and abandoned the race.

Leipheimer and numerous other riders crashed when Leipheimer and Armstrong bumped wheels, but Leipheimer received a new bike and quickly returned to the field.

“It was my fault,” Leipheimer said. “Usually, you can put your foot down, but not today. I just didn’t concentrate for a second. I landed on my butt. It hurts, but nothing’s broken, so it’s no big deal. It’s racing etiquette not to attack when the race leader crashes, so I just took my time.”

Rogers, a three-time world time-trial titlist, also finished in the main field and has five stages of the nine-stage race remaining to reduce his deficit.

David Zabriskie of Salt Lake City is third overall, trailing by 28 seconds.

Hushovd, a six-time stage winner on the Tour de France, jumped to the front of the large pack with about 150 yards left.

“Hayden Roulston started it with a little more than one kilometer to go, then Dominique Rollin pulled into the last corner,” said Hushovd. “Then Brett Lancaster took over after the last corner, and I passed him with about 150 meters to go. Our team did a great job today, and I am really thankful. It’s the first time we’ve worked together and it went well, so that was a good start.”

Oscar Freire of Spain was second in the stage and Mark Renshaw of Australia was third in the same time.

The fourth annual event continues Wednesday with a 115.4-mile road race from Merced to Clovis.

Here’s a few notes from the stage. It started with a climb just 6 miles in and a breakaway went from the gun. Four riders got up the road, Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), Brian Vandborg (Liquigas), Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) and Brad White (OUCH-Maxxis. They built a maxium of 5:30 on the peloton. The sprinter teams of Team Columbia and Cervelo put riders on the front and made the perfect catch just 2 k from the line.

This was a big win for Hushovd and his new team, Cervélo TestTeam based in Canada. He looks set to win a spring classic and go for another green jersey in the Tour de France.

Here’s two photos that take you behind the scenes. First is Lance getting lunch. Here’s how it works. The race establishes a feed zone along the route. It’s about 200 meters long and normally 60% into the race. The perfect zone is straight and going up a 3 to 5 percent climb. This does two things, slows the riders down and increase visablity for the rider to see soigneur holding the mussett with food. The soigneur’s give massages after the race to each rider and feed them during the race. Most mussett hold a a small sandwich, energy bar, gel, and drink. I’d also find a local pastry shop during stages races and give the riders a pastry as a treat. The soigneur holds the bag at arms lentgh and the rider moves to you. Each team of eight has two feeders. that’s 36 people feeding over 150 riders often in less then a minute. It can get crazy and if soigneur’s strated to move and run it would be a disaster. So the rider reaches out and grabs the strap on the bag at 23 or so mph. They pull the items out and stuff them in their pockets and a fan up the road gets a souvenier.

Next is Levi getting help after his crash yesterday. Each team has a car with a director sportif and mechanic behind the race. The car is filled with spare wheels, parts, and full bikes on the roof. A flat tire can be changed in about 30 seconds to get the rider back in the race. A crash of the race leader will get the mechanics heart racing during those very intense 30 seconds.