Cycling: Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) is beatable at the Tour de Suisse. The Slovak couldn't complete the hat-trick today and only finished third. The Etixx-Quick Step team drove straight into the last right-hand bend with two men in the lead and took the lead across the finish line. Danny van Poppel (Sky) narrowly escaped a fall. Sagan goes into tomorrow's mountain stage in the leader's jersey.
Rain again at the Tour de Suisse
Today should be the last chance for the sprinters on the 3rd stage over 193 kilometers from Rheinfelden to Champagne, but yesterday we saw that you can never be too sure with Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) in the field of drivers. Shortly before the finish there should be a fast descent and a small hill that was perfect for attacks. The race again took place largely in the rain, so that the spectators could only enjoy the south-western shore of Lac de Neuchatel to a limited extent. Four riders, Matthew Brammeier (Dimension Data), Jérémy Maison (FDJ), Lukas Jaun (Roth) and Nick van der Lijke (Roompot-Oranje Peloton), who also formed the group of the day, broke away early. The field lazed around a bit, so that they were about half an hour behind the calculated marching table with the lowest speed and today they reached the finish much later than expected. The breakaways were not interested in the two mountain classifications, because Antwan Tolhoeck (Roompot-Oranje Peloton) will continue to wear the mountain jersey tomorrow one way or another. The peloton kept the gap small. Only around 20 km before the finish line did the pace pick up a little when the breakaway group was around two minutes ahead and Lukas Jaun was no longer able to follow his colleagues. The Tinkoff team in particular was interested in catching up with the group. There was only support from Etixx-Quick Step, who calculated chances in a mass sprint with Fernando Gaviria and Maximiliano Richeze today.
Etixx-Quick Step with a tactical trick
In the last ten kilometers, the Lotto-NL Jumbo team joined the front and the lead of the remaining top trio quickly dwindled to just a few seconds. Meanwhile, Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) has lost touch with the peloton. The Swiss was actually believed to be capable of an attack shortly before the end of the day. So instead there was a mass sprint in Champagne. Several corners had to be negotiated on the last kilometer, but the Etixx-Quick Step team seems to have taken a close look at the finish line beforehand. The final right-hander was within the last 200 meters and the Belgian team went straight into the corner with two riders in the lead. Directly behind them were Peter Sagan and Danny van Poppel (Sky), who just managed to save himself from crashing into the gang with his effort. So the way was clear for Richeze and Gaviria, both of whom were celebrating the double victory even before crossing the finish line. Peter Sagan was third. Behind them there was a gap of two seconds to the rest of the field.
Tour de Suisse - The daily result of the 3th stage