Peter Sagan is back with a Tour de Suisse Sprint Win!
Peter Sagan stormed to a sprint stage win on the third day of the Tour de Suisse beating Coquard and Kristoff on the line. His win comes with less than 3 weeks before the Tour de France.
The Slovakian champion broke the ice today by winning a bunch sprint after a complicated year, that sees him to return to form.
A breakaway of big hitters went up the road; Mathias Reutimann (Swiss national team), Quinn Simmons (Trek - Segafredo), Joey Rosskopf (Human Powered Health), Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal), Manuel Boaro (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and Stefan Bissegger. They opened a sizable gap on the peloton.
Behind TotalEnergies and Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux chased. The breakaway fell apart to to the hard pace and the brutal heat which affected the riders throughout the stage. Nearing the end of the stage with 33 kilometers to go, Bissegger attacked after one of the hardest sections of the day.
The Swiss was a major threat on his home road. However, fatigue set in from the brutal heat, and the chasing the peloton reeled him back in the final 10 kilometers. A crash with 4 kilometers to go saw Max Schachmann and Domenico Pozzovivo loose some time.
Maximilian Schachmann and Frederik Wandahl were both involved in the crash with 4km from the finish and as a result the German champion crossed the line 53 seconds down on the day's winner. Both riders sustained abrasions but will continue racing.
In the finale Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux led, it was Sagan who struck first and held his advantage against Bryan Coquard who finished second and Alexander Kristoff who finished third.
VIDEO: 2022 Tour de Suisse Stage 3 Highlights
2022 Tour de Suisse Stage 3 Top 10
1 SVK Peter Sagan TotalEnergies 04:28:38
2 FRA Bryan Coquard Cofidis + 00
3 NOR Alexander Kristoff Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert + 00
4 GBR Tom Pidcock INEOS Grenadiers + 00
5 ESP Alex Aranburu Movistar Team + 00
6 ITA Matteo Trentin UAE Team Emirates + 00
7 NED Cees Bol Team DSM + 00
8 AUS Michael Matthews Team BikeExchange-Jayco + 00
9 NED Mike Teunissen Jumbo-Visma + 00
10 ITA Alberto Bettiol EF Education-EasyPost + 00
2022 Tour de Suisse GC after Stage 3 Top 10
01 GBR Stephen Williams Bahrain Victorious 13:32:19
02 DEN Andreas Kron Lotto Soudal + 06
03 NOR Andreas Leknessund Team DSM + 07
04 GBR Geraint Thomas INEOS Grenadiers + 07
05 SUI Stefan Küng Groupama-FDJ + 10
06 USA Sepp Kuss Jumbo-Visma + 10
07 SUI Marc Hirschi UAE Team Emirates + 10
08 DEN Jakob Fuglsang Israel-Premier Tech + 10
09 RUS Aleksandr Vlasov BORA-hansgrohe + 10
10 GBR Adam Yates INEOS Grenadiers + 10