Deutschland Tour: Mohoric wins stage 3

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Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) won stage 3 of the Deutschland Tour in Merzig to move into the overall lead with one stage remaining. The Slovenian produced a well-timed effort to beat Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) and Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) in the reduced group sprint.

Late escapees Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Oscaro) and Pieter Weening (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) were caught at the flamme rouge, and after an effort from Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) petered out, Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) tried to upset the odds by anticipating the sprint.

Kiryienka was overhauled within sight of the line after Politt launched his sprint from distance, but the on-form Mohoric – winner of the BinckBank Tour last week – produced a sparkling late acceleration to claim the honours. Overnight leader Max Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors) was prominent at the head of the reduced bunch in the finale, but he could only manage seventh on the stage and concedes his jersey to Mohoric.

The sprint was marred by a nasty crash that saw Lennard Kamna (Sunweb) and Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) come down heavily, while Jurgen Roelandts (BMC) was forced to sit up rather than contest the finish.

The stage was animated by an early break of seven riders, comprising Johannes Hodapp (Sauerland), Oscar Riesebeek (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), Juri Hollmann (Heizomat), Rick Zabel (Katusha-Alpecin), Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling) and Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal).

The escapees forged clear after 30km and established a maximum lead of 4 minutes with 80km remaining, but Schachmann’s Quick-Step guard set about whittling down their advantage. The break had two minutes in hand come the final 50km, but that buffer was down to just 30 seconds by the time they hit the final 25km.

The punchy terrain on the finishing circuit lent itself to attacking, and Hansen and Zabel slipped away from their companions on an uncategorised climb with 20km remaining. They were pegged back shortly before the final classified ascent of Mettlach, however, where Carpenter – so impressive every time the road climbed – going clear in the company of Risebeek.

Carpenter shed himself of Riesebeek with 10km to go and led through the finish line with one lap remain. With Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) among the pace-setters in the reduced bunch, however, it was always going to be difficult to stay clear, and the American was caught with 8km to go.

Barguil and Weening jumped away on the climb to the bonus sprint at Eller Weg with 7km to go, and they held a thin buffer over the chasers all the way to the kilometre to go banner, where they were finally swept up.

A breathless finale ensued, with Bardet making a late bid for glory, but the honours ultimately fell to Mohoric, who is enjoying a fine August and is now on the cusp of a second stage race victory in the space of a week.

Mohoric carries a lead of 6 seconds over Schachmann into Sunday’s concluding stage, with Politt a further 4 seconds back in third place overall.

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