LAVAL, France, July 6 - Belgian Tom Steels confirmed his sprinting prowess by claiming his second successive Tour de France stage victory on Tuesday.

The Mapei rider, winner of four stages last year, made his move in the final stretch of the 194.5-km third stage from Nantes to upstage German Erik Zabel and Australian Stuart O'Grady.

Steels, who was kicked out of the Tour two years ago for throwing his bottle at another rider in a sprint finish, shot to second in the overall standings, 17 seconds behind Estonian Jan Kirsipuu, winner of the first stage on Sunday.

"It was very hard on the end. We rode the last 40 kms at 60 kph and we had to be very careful in the turns," said Steels, after the 51st victory in his career.

"I kept my concentration to stay out of trouble and on the final stretch I stayed behind Zabel, which was the right thing to do.

"I don't think it was possible to have a better start on the Tour than this," said the Belgian, winner of the Ghent-Wevelgem classic for the second time this season.

Steels could well add a seventh victory to his Tour record as there are four more flat stages before the first time trial in Metz.

Steels said he had improved a lot since the abrupt finish to his Tour in 1997.

"I have a lot more experience of the Tour. Now I remain calm in the sprints whereas I used to be very nervous", he said.

"When you have a stage win under your belt you are even more relaxed and that helps you make the right decisions."

Should he make it three wins in a row in Wednesday's 191-km fourth stage to Blois, Steels could take over the race's yellow jersey from Kirsipuu thanks to the time bonus awarded to stage winners.

"Of course, I will try to take the yellow jersey, especially as we're getting nearer to Belgium," he said.

Steels is unlikely to encounter too much competition from ageing Italian sprint ace Mario Cipollini who was again disappointing in the four-and-a-half-hour ride, finishing 10th.

Frenchman Frederic Guesdon, the 1997 Paris-Roubaix winner, and Italian Massimo Giunti staged a 121-km breakaway, building a lead of more than four minutes over the main group.

But they were caught in the final 20 kilometres by the bunch.

Italian Moreno Di Biase crashed into a barrier with three kms left but was able to finish the stage five minutes behind Steels.