Peter Sagan storms to stage three win in Switzerland

The Tinkoff-Saxo rider was pushed all the way in a brutal finale to the 117km stage from Quinto to Olivone, but stayed firm and dived past Daniel Moreno in the closing 250m to win, with Moreno second and Thibaut Pinot third over the line.

Sagan's win sees him move to third place on the general classification, alongside Moreno and five seconds behind Tom Dumoulin.

“It was a really twisty finish," said Sagan.

"The corner started to go left and so I went left but then it went right and then all the way to the left. I had to take a few risks to stay up and make it to the finish but I did it.

"I’m really happy to win the stage and also how my teammates rode for me. The team did a great job and Majka helped me a lot on the last two climbs to keep the group together.

"It’s thanks to the team that I won today. Now we’ll enjoy this win and see what happens tomorrow."

Dumoulin finished safely in the leading pack and was relieved to have held on to the leader's jersey.

"It definitely wasn’t easy today to defend the jersey," Dumoulin said.

"Tinkoff-Saxo wanted a sprint finish and rode for it. That meant we didn’t have to close gaps and we can save our energy for the days to come.

"For sure it will be harder on the mountain stage to Solden. My shape is good and so if I go at my own tempo I’ll try not to lose too much time. If I only lose one minute or one and a half minutes, then anything is possible in the final time trial.”

1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo

2. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha

3. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr

4. Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing

5. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin

6. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky

7. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team

8. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge

9. Sergio Luis Henao (Col) Team Sky

10. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team

1. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 6:43:12

2. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha +5"

3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo +5"

4. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky +7"

5. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr +12"