BADGER STILL BITES: Don’t say the Bernard Hinault has lost any of his punch with old age. Just as Samuel Dumoulin was stepping atop the podium to accept his prize as the day’s winner, a protester dressed in a neon yellow vest jumped in front of the pint-sized Dumoulin and raised his arms in defiance. Hinault — who works with the Tour organization and appears daily on the podium to present the day’s awards — quickly sprung into action and shoved the hapless protester off the front of the stage. Tour goons swarmed and shuttled him out of the way. The five-time Tour winner received a rousing applause for his quick thinking.

AGGRESSION PAYS OFF FOR FRISCHKORN: What a ride by Will Frischkorn. The ex-mountain biker told us this morning he was loving the Tour de France and wanted to get into a breakaway at some point during his Tour debut.

Less than a half-hour later, his dossard crackled over the course radio. Frischkorn’s Tour was just cranking up.

Once it became clear the move was going to stick, he rode wisely in the final kilometers to follow the attacks from his French rivals and came within a wheel-length of victory. Not bad for three days of racing for the Tour rookie.

Frischkorn took a nice consolation prize, winning the most aggressive rider prize for his efforts and will wear a special red bib to highlight his number in Tuesday’s time trial.

Thanks to his efforts, Garmin-Chipotle also moved atop the team classification. In the team’s first big day, it managed to steer GC man Christian Vande Velde away from trouble and keep David Millar within shot of the maillot jaune going into Tuesday’s time trial (though it’s now more complicated with Feillu 1:46 ahead). Aussie climber Trent Lowe, however, was caught up behind a crash with 22km to go that split the group and finished with Ryder Hesjedal leading the way at 4:55 back.

Frischkorn, meanwhile, is quickly earning a reputation as a world-class head-banger.

Earlier this year, he was in the all-day attack in Milan-San Remo, where he rode 230km in a move. Today’s surge came in the opening kilometers and has was off the front about 200km, so it must have seemed easy.

“I like aggressive, dynamic racing, not just going to a bottom of a climb and go. I like challenges in a course, with crosswinds and elements that you have to think about a little bit. A lot of the northern classics suit me well. I was on the podium at the U-23 Flanders,” Frischkorn told us in an interview earlier this season. “I’d like to look toward races like Flanders and individual stages in grand tours. As much as anything, I view myself as a strong support rider for my leaders. I’m pretty good in that role, to be one of the last guys for the leader in the crunch.”

He’s obviously a man who knows himself well.

SO LONG, SOLER? Mauricio Soler will head to a clinic Monday evening in Nantes to a have a MRI on his left wrist to confirm if he has a fracture or not. The Colombian condor saw his wings clipped with a late-stage crash in Saturday’s opener and lost more than three minutes.

After a fitful night, Soler bravely started Sunday’s stage with both wrists wrapped in tape and a bandage on his left knee. Unable to stand out of the saddle due to searing pain in his wrists, his legs cramped up and lost contact late on the road to Saint-Brieuc and finished last at 7:18 back. It’s now a fight for survival for Soler, who finished in the final group Monday and forfeited another 4:55.

“I can forget about the GC now,” Soler told us this morning. “I slept better (Sunday night) and the time trial will seem like a rest day for me. I can only look at it day to day and see if I can recover. I still dream of winning a stage.”

The son of peasant farmers high in the central mountains of Colombia, Soler’s known more pain than this.

SPARTACUS COMODUS: Fabian Cancellara is the heavy favorite for victory in Tuesday’s 29.5km time trial. The two-time reigning world time trial only sees one man as a rival.

“The Scottish,” said Cancellara said, referring to David Millar, not the Brave Heart hordes. “Millar is very strong right now. Who else? Name one? Maybe Schumacher on a short course. Evans will be good, but I usually can beat him.”

Of last year’s top 10 in the world championship in Stuttgart, only Stef Clement (Bouygues Telecom), Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne) and Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) are at the Tour.

Cancellara was hoping to pull the double Tuesday, winning the stage and claiming the yellow jersey. He started the stage six seconds behind Millar and seven seconds behind overnight leader Alejandro Valverde, but Monday’s stage turned the GC upside down. French sprinter Romain Feillu moved into the yellow tunic, now 1:52 ahead of Cancellara.

“The first goal is to win the stage, then we’ll see about the yellow jersey. That’s a lot of time to make up on a short course. Hopefully the weather will be better,” the big Swiss time machine said after the stage. “I will see the course in the morning. Our hotel is right on the course, so I will ride it in the morning, take a shower and relax before the stage. I will be disappointed if I lose.”

Feillu is hoping for a miracle and expects the “yellow jersey to give me wings.”

“The only time in my life I started a time trial in the yellow jersey was when I was a junior, and I kept it,” Feillu said.

If last year’s opening prologue is any indication, Cancellara still has a shot for yellow. Feillu lost 1:14 to Cancellara last year in London.

DOUBLE FRENCH DELIGHT: The French were driveling in their pastis Monday with the yellow jersey-stage victory double. Romain Feillu, who started the stage 58th at 18 seconds off the pace, takes yellow while diminutive Samuel Dumoulin out-kicked Will Frischkorn to take the stage.

“It’s a great day for France,” said Dumoulin. “We’re not as bad as they say. We know how to train. There are other reasons why we don’t do so well for reasons that I don’t want to say. People said at the beginning of this Tour that it’s a Tour for people who take chances. That’s exactly what I did today. The French riders deserve a win in the Tour. It’s great news for this generation of French riders.”

At the finish line, Dumoulin was slathered with kisses from his fiancé, daughter of Ag2r-La Mondiale boss Vincent Lavanu, who cut Dumoulin at the end of last season.

Feillu buried himself in the final 50km when it became obvious the break might stay clear. Positioned to take the first French yellow jersey, he also gamely tried to pull the double, but settled nicely for the yellow jersey for his wild-card Agritubel team.

The young French sprinter fought through toxoplasmosis early this season yet managed to convince his team to bring him to the Tour.

“I only started training in April, yet I managed to convince my bosses I could be of some help to the team. This yellow jersey is a nice reward,” he said. “I don’t know how much impact this yellow jersey will have. It’s not like it came at the end of a big mountain stage.”