Greg Van Avermaet leads BMC to Tour de France team time trials victory.

CHOLET, France — Chris Froome’s Team Sky came up four seconds short of winning the team time trial in the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday, as Greg Van Avermaet of victorious BMC claimed the yellow jersey.

BMC, led by Australian hope Richie Porte, clocked 38 minutes, 46 seconds over the 22-mile route that began and ended in Cholet near the Atlantic coast.

Sky finished second and Quick-Step Floors came in third, seven seconds behind. World champion Sunweb featuring Tom Dumoulin finished fifth, 11 seconds back.

Former leader Peter Sagan was dropped by his Bora Hansgrohe teammates and fell to 80th overall, three minutes behind.

Van Avermaet, a Belgian who excels at single-day classics, isn’t a threat for the overall title but he could keep the lead through the cobblestoned Stage 9 ending in Roubaix.

Froome was left 55 seconds behind in the overall standings with another week of nervy rolling stages before hitting the Alps.

“It’s a good time,” said Froome, who dropped 51 seconds following a crash in Stage 1 . “There are a lot of other good teams. As I’ve said from the start, the legs are good. It was a good test for us and the team. I’m very happy with the other riders.”

Froome is aiming to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only riders to win the Tour five times.

Van Avermaet also wore the yellow jersey for three days on the 2016 Tour.

The Tour heads into the cycling hotbed of Brittany today for Stage 4, a mostly flat 121-mile leg from La Baule to Sarzeau that starts and ends on the Atlantic coast.

The only individual time trial of the race comes in the penultimate stage, over a 31-kilometer route from Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle to Espelette in the Basque country.