In a magistral way Peter Sagan (SVK/BOH) won the 3rd stage Flamatt – Murten. With his 17th stage victory, the former three-time road world champion also took over the leader’s jersey.

“I knew that I had to be one of the first riders to enter the final bend 200 m before the finish. I succeeded. After that everything was easy,” Sagan said after his sprint victory over Elia Viviani (ITA/DQT) and John Degenkolb (GER/TFS). The Slovakian once again proved to be an artist on the racing bike. “Such a technically difficult arrival is perfect for me,” Sagan had said before the start.

19 km before the finish, Sagan was forced to change bikes. The Slovakian is in contact with Viviani, whereupon apparently some spokes broke on his racing bike. “No, there was no reason to panic. I had a helper with me, and we easily managed to get back into the field. And that Sagan was able to slip on the leader’s jersey: “A beautiful award for me. We’ll try to defend it in the days to come, but certainly not until the end of the Tour de Suisse.”

The great animators of the day were Bert-Jan Lindemann (NED/TVJ), Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA/TKA), Ryan Anderson (CAN/RLY) and Simon Pellaud from the Swiss National Team, who immediately after the start pulled out and covered the approximately 154 km at the front of the race. However, the quartet was kept under strict control and only achieved a maximum lead of 3:40 minutes.