Robbie McEwen won the Tour de France points competition for the third time here Sunday to once again pull on the green jersey.

In what is considered the second hardest competition on the race after the yellow jersey battle, McEwen topped the standings on 288 points to leave former six-time winner Erik Zabel of Germany down in second place on 199.

The 34-year-old Belgium-based Aussie also claimed three stages on this year's race, however he was pipped to the most coveted sprint stage when he was beaten to the Champs Elysees finish line by last year’s points jersey winner Norway's Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole).

The powerful Credit Agricole sprinter began the race in winning fashion in the prologue and after watching McEwen launch his drive too early, a superbly-timed sprint handed him his second victory on this year's race.

It means McEwen, who now has 11 stage wins in total from the Tour de France, failed to match the 12 won by Italy's former sprint king Mario Cipollini, who nevertheless failed to ever finish the Tour. McEwen last won the Tour de France green jersey in 2004, two years after his maiden win.

His green jersey bid was given a boost on Friday when Rabobank sprinter Oscar Freire, who was 45 points behind him in the competition, pulled out of the race.