Tour of Denmark: Valgren wins stage 3

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The race lead in the Tour of Denmark passed from one Tinkoff rider, Daniele Bennati, to another on stage 3, with Dane Michael Valgren parlaying a brilliant final kilometer attack into a stage win and the blue jersey.

Valgren entered into a late breakaway, driven by the Stölting Service Group team, and then jumped clear of his companions to win the stage by two seconds over fellow Dane Alexander Kamp and Marco Marcato (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).

With the time bonus, Valgren now has a five-second lead in the overall classification on Magnus Cort Nielsen and seven on Kamp.

The 2014 overall winner of the Tour of Denmark was chuffed to have refound his winning form.

"I'm really happy - it's my first win in a few years, and it's the hardest stage to win in the Tour of Denmark," Valgren said. "The city where we finished today, I lived there for two years so I know the town really well, so it's really nice to win there in front of the public. It was quite hard with little time between the Tour [de France], but I love to ride in Denmark and to show the people here who come to see me that I am capable of getting the results - it's nice to pay them back."

The 175km stage from Aabenraa to Vejle ended with four finishing circuits that included a tough climb to the finish line. Only 20 riders were left at the head of the race for the final climb, and Valgren chose his moment perfectly to attack.

"I had to take the opportunity today," Valgren said. "We have a really strong team here - they guys rode perfectly today for Benna and me. Benna and I spoke on the third lap that and he wasn't too good so I took it up and it was up to me. Coming into the last climb I thought just give it a go. You had to be up there coming into the climb as it's quite narrow and hard to move up. I keep my head cool and went full gas up the climb and it all worked out."

Now Valgren must face a 20km time trial before the final stage on Sunday, but is confident he can hold onto the race lead to the end.

"Tomorrow's time trial normally suits me well. When I look at he GC now, I should hopefully be able to gain some more time. The guys behind me are fast sprinters so could maybe take some bonus seconds on the last stage so I want to make it safe tomorrow."

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