World Champion Peter Sagan was the one to take the lead on the third, uphill sprint stage of the Tour de France. On the other hand, Britain’s rider, Thomas, retained the overall lead keeping his yellow jersey.
8eme victoire d’étape pour @petosagan / 8th stage victory for @petosagan #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/ctZNFeCT5l
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 3, 2017
Sagan’s performance was remarkable good throughout all the yesterday’s race but he was only able to take the victory on the last 300 meters when he sprinted to the finish line overpassing some of the best riders that were already ahead him.
During an interview, immediately after stage three, Thomas added: “There were no crashes, which were good, but it was a really hectic final. I’m happy to get through unscathed.”
Right after Sagan’s sprint came Geraint Thomas who crossed the finish line two seconds later and then, defending champion Froome came third.
Sagan’s style
Even though there were a dozen other riders who could have potentially won the third yesterday’s stage, none of them showed enough effort when on the last segment of the stage like Sagan did. His poise and persistence during the last 300 meters gave him a well-deserved stage victory.
Sagan, when asked to give an opinion regarding the stage results, admitted the last part of it to be a strange finale. “Richie Porte went hard in the last 700-800m. I tried to catch him but when I caught him I saw how much was left, 400m. I said ‘no, it’s too much’, so I relaxed a bit before going again.”- added Sagan.
First @letour stage win for @BORAhansgrohe! Thanks to my team for their hard work #ridenatural pic.twitter.com/DDgxV0CDtu
— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) July 3, 2017
Final results of stage 3:
Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora) 5hrs 07mins 19 seconds
Michael Matthews (Aus/Team Sunweb) Same time
Dan Martin (Ire/Quick-Step Floors)
Greg van Avermaet (Bel/BMC Racing)
Alberto Bettiol (Ita/Cannondale-Drapac) +02 seconds
Arnaud Demare (Fra/FDJ) Same time
Jakob Fuglsang (Den/Astana)
Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky)
Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky)
Rafal Majka (Pol/ Bora)
General classification until now:
Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) 10hrs 00mins 31 seconds
Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +12seconds
Michael Matthews (Aus/Team Sunweb) Same time
Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora) +13 seconds
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data) +16 seconds
Pierre Latour (Fra/AG2R) +25 seconds
Philippe Gilbert (Bel/Quick-Step) +30 seconds
Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Team Sky) +32 seconds
Tim Wellens (Bel/Lotto) Same time
Nikias Arndt (Ger/Team Sunweb) +34 seconds
