Tour de Suisse: Colbrelli wins stage 3

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Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) won stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse in Gansingen after an action-packed finale. Colbrelli edged out Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) and world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) as the three almost came together on the line.

Stefan Küng (BMC Racing) finished safely in the bunch to keep a hold of his overall race lead with a three-second advantage over teammate Greg Van Avermaet.

There were no proper sprint trains on the run to the line with most of the lead-out rider burned out of the bunch during the attacks on the final climb and descent. Colbrelli sat neatly in the bunch as they chased down a long-range move from FDJ's Arthur Vichot. With Vichot still out front, Colbrelli was the first to launch his sprint with 250 metres to go while Gaviria reacted almost immediately.

Sagan, who was one of the only riders with a teammate remaining in the reduced peloton, jumped onto the wheel of Michael Albasini (Mitchelton-Scott), who had latched onto Colbrelli's. The world champion moved out into the wind inside the final 100 metres but was forced to squeeze through a closing gap as Albasini did the same. He made it past the Swiss rider but did not have enough to overhaul Colbrelli and Gaviria.

The three came over the line, elbows – or heads in Sagan's case – touching, with Colbrelli taking the win by just a few centimetres. It is the Italian's second victory of the season after he won on Hatta Dam at the Dubai Tour.

"It’s a beautiful victory today," the Italian said. "I beat riders like Sagan and Gaviria by anticipating them in the sprint. Yesterday was not a great day for me, and I wanted to bounce back. I was able to do that thanks to the help of my team. I went from a long way out in the sprint, a long, long way out. That worked well for me in Paris-Nice last year and it’s worked again here."

How it happened

After two scorching days in Switzerland, the weather took a turn for the cooler for stage 3 as the riders headed from Oberstammheim to Gansingen. Alongside the colder temperatures, heavy rain rain would mark much of the day. Ahead of the riders lay an undulating course that was capped off with five classified climbs before the descent towards the finish.

After just five kilometres of racing and a number of attacks, a three-rider move jumped off the front of the peloton. Calvin Watson (Aqua Blue Sort) and Filippo Zaccanti (Nippo-Vini Fantini) had been on the attack on stage 2, and had the black and blue jerseys to show for their efforts, with Direct Energie's Fabien Grellier joining the party.

BMC Racing still held the leader's jersey with Küng after their team time trial victory on day one. The American-registered Swiss outfit obliged and held station at the front of the peloton, keeping a watchful eye on the time to the riders out front. The lead would be allowed to extend out to six minutes before Peter Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe team took the hint and helped out.

With 45 kilometres remaining, the combined efforts of BMC Racing and Bora-Hansgrohe had the gap to the trio just under two minutes. It wasn't just the pace that was hotting up but the weather too, while the rain had also abated, and most of the riders took the opportunity to remove their rain layers and drop back to the car to dispose of them.

As the rain began to fall heavy again on the peloton with 36 kilometres to go, Mitchelton-Scott tried once again to mix things up with Chris Juul-Jensen launching an attack. The Irish-born Dane made up 30 seconds in quick order but the breakaway still had time to contest the third climb of the day. Zaccanti went early in a bid to outfox Grellier but the Frenchman would be the first over the top again, with Watson taking his time over the short ascent.

Five kilometres after setting off, Juul-Jenson had reeled in Watson but there was still a 30-second gap to the remaining two escapees. The Mitchelton-Scott rider was alone when he made contact with the pair after Watson sat up and cut his losses.

Juul-Jensen provided some strength to the break but with just over 20 kilometres and one climb remaining, the new-look trio held just 40 seconds on the pack behind. The catch would be made by the Quick-Step- and Katusha-led peloton with nine kilometres remaining.

A flurry of attacks happened at the foot of the final climb, but it wasn't until closer to the top that the action really kicked off, with stage 2 winner Sagan having a dig off the front. His move put plenty in trouble, including Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates).

Matthews brought it back together before having another dig just before the descent. His teammate Soren Kragh Andersen kept up the pressure by attacking again before being brought back by Bahrain-Merida.

With his teammate Arnaud Demare among those that were shelled out the back in the aggressive finale, Vichot decided to go for a long one and attacked the bunch with a kilometre still to go. However, he was unable to hold the gap when the other sprinters turned on the afterburners with Colbrelli taking the top honours on the line.

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