Tour of Slovakia: Lennert Van Eetvelt wins hilly stage 3 and takes over race lead

Stage 3 of the Tour of Slovakia delivered a rare sight for the race as a rider not named Paul Magnier took victory.

A tough day through the hills with 2,100 metres of climbing on the road to Dohňany saw the final climb of the day – Kohútka (6.2km at 6.6%) - decide the stage as Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) and Henrique Bravo (Soudal-QuickStep) broke clear at the front 25km from the line.

The pair left other attackers, including Simon Carr (Cofidis) behind, but were caught by a host of chasers in the final kilometres of the 195km stage as the group swelled to 28 riders.

Van Eetvelt and Bravo raced to the line together with their new companions, and it was Van Eetvelt who prevailed in the final sprint to the line. The Belgian beat Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Valentin Hofer (Bahrain Victorious Development Team) to win the stage.

Van Eetvelt now takes over the race lead from Magnier, who won the first two stages but finished stage 3 minutes down. He leads the GC by four seconds from Thomas.

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Results

General classification