Viviani wins Tour du Poitou-Charentes stage 3

Elia Viviani (Team Sky) claimed victory on stage 3 of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, beating Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Jempy Drucker (BMC) in a bunch finish in Neuville de Poitou to move back into the overall leader.

It was Viviani's second win of the race after he took victory on Tuesday's opening stage and a continuation of his fine run of recent form. The Italian placed second at the European Championships earlier this month and emerged victorious at the EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg on Sunday.

Viviani was well guided by his Sky team in the finale on Thursday morning, and he was clear of the crash just outside the final kilometre that saw several riders hit the ground. In the final sprint, the Italian had too much for the previous day's winner Bouhanni and he divested the Frenchman of the leader's jersey in the process.

The start of the short morning stage was an aggressive one, marked by a flurry of attacks. Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo-Oscaro) was the first escapee to gain any traction, and he was joined in his early effort by Joeri Calleeuw (Roubaix-Lille Metropole) and Jacopo Mosca (Wilier-Selle Italia).

The trio combined well together but they were never able to bring their lead north of two minutes as Bouhanni's Cofidis team marshalled affairs at the head of the peloton, with Dimitri Claeys prominent.

Pichon, Calleeuw and Mosca held a lead of one minute as they entered the final 30 kilometres, but with the speed ratcheting upwards in the main peloton, it was always going to be a tough ask to stay clear.

Even so, they stuck resolutely to their task in the finale, and still had 35 seconds in hand on the bunch with 9 kilometres to go. At that point, Cofidis had come to the front of the peloton en masse, and it took a wholehearted effort before the move was eventually snuffed out with a little under four kilometres remaining.

The Armée de Terre squad took up the reins on the final run-in to the line, but on the evidence of the opening two stages, it seemed clear that the road to victory would run through Viviani and Bouhanni, and so it proved.

The two best sprinters in the race enjoyed another fine duel, with Viviani emerging victorious ahead of the Frenchman and Drucker. Rudy Barbier (AG2R La Mondiale) took fourth, while Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) surprised by taking 5th in the sprint, just ahead of Dan McLay (Fortuneo-Oscaro).

In the overall standings, Viviani is two seconds clear of Bouhanni and 13 seconds up on Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) ahead of Thursday afternoon's 20.6-kilometre individual time trial.

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