Degenkolb wins stage 3 of Paris-Nice

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After two straight stages with runner-up finishes, John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Shimano) finally sprinted to victory in stage 3 at Paris-Nice. The 25-year-old German was a clear winner in the field sprint finale ahead of Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge) and Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar) as the 180km stage concluded on the Magny-Cours Formula One circuit.

"That was unbelievable, everything worked out perfectly today," said Degenkolb. "We tried twice already on the first two stages but each time it didn't quite work out, but today it was spot on.

"We kept our nerve in the last few kilometres, taking control on the race circuit. We weren't worried that the race wouldn't come back together so we waited until the final few kilometres to hit it hard.

"I'm really happy that I can finally thank my teammates with this win after giving me complete support over the past few days."

In addition to taking the stage victory, Degenkolb took over the general classification lead from Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr), the stage one winner who had started the day in the yellow jersey, due to the 10-second winner's time bonus. Degenkolb now leads Bouhanni by eight seconds while stage two winner Moreno Hofland (Belkin) holds third overall at 12 seconds.

The stage from Toucy to Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was dominated by an early break comprised of three Frenchman - Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar), Julien Fouchard (Cofidis) and Romain Feillu (Bretagne-Séché Environnement). The peloton kept the trio on a tight leash, however, with a maximum advantage allowed of just over three minutes.

The FDJ.fr team of race leader Nacer Bouhanni set tempo for the bulk of the stage and were joined by Astana, Sky and Movistar in the finale to assist in neutralising the escape.

At 11km remaining, with the break's lead under one minute, the escape group splintered as Quemeneur pushed the pace on a slight incline and dropped his two companions. Fouchard and Feillu sat up and were absorbed, while a determined Quemeneur refused to yield and pressed onwards.

At 4.5km to go the peloton turned onto the Magny-Cours auto circuit, home of the French Grand Prix from 1991-2008, with Quemeneur still hanging onto a 30-second lead.

On the sweeping curves of the Formula One circuit the lone Frenchman was no match for a peloton determined to contest a field sprint and was swept up with two kilometres remaining. The teams of the sprinters wound up the pace through the flamme rouge with Giant-Shimano getting it right courtesy of John Degenkolb after near misses on the two previous stages.

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