Sagan charges to stage win

Fort Collins - Peter Sagan won his third stage of the USA Pro Challenge, holding off a late charge from Rory Sutherland in stage six as Tejay van Garderen held onto the overall lead.

Tour de France sprint jersey winner Sagan, who also won stage one and three of this seven-stage event, finished the 185.4km stage six in four hours, one minute and 33 seconds.

The Cannondale rider edged out runner-up Luka Mezgec and Greg van Avermaet who placed third. Both finished in the same time as Sagan.

Van Garderen (BMC) also finished safely in the lead pack to maintain his overall lead of one minute, 30 seconds over teammate Mathias Frank. Garmin's Tom Danielson is third at 1:42.

With one kilometre to go to the finish Saturday, Slovakia's Sagan was sailing along solo when Sutherland launched a late charge. But Sutherland faded with a few hundred metres to go and would end up finishing seventh.

Sunday's 116.5 kilometre final stage features a circuit race on the streets of Denver. gph/bb