Talansky takes Paris-Nice lead

Brioude - American rider Andrew Talansky of the Garmin team won the third stage of the Paris-Nice on Wednesday and took the overall lead after a six-man breakaway held off the peloton following 170.5km between Chatel-Guyon and Brioude.

The 24-year-old Miami native edged out escape partners Davide Malacarne of Italy and Spaniard Gorka Izagirre on a wet afternoon as he picked up his biggest career win and also took the overall lead.

"We didn't take too many risks during the final descent and I stayed well on the wheel of Richie Porte," explained Talansky.

"From then on it was his teammate (Sky's David Lopez) who did the work. I wasn't looking to ride flat out and I wasn't thinking about the yellow jersey, I just wanted to avoid any problems and I really starting thinking about the stage victory during the final kilometre," he added.

"Paris-Nice is my first main objective of the season and I've been thinking about it since we starting training last November. I was targeting the top five but the podium is possible now."

Lopez of Spain, Australia's Richie Porte and French rider Romain Bardet also came home with the same time as Talansky while seventh-placed Andriy Grivko of the Ukraine is now second overall at 3secs.

Malacarne moves third overall on the same time with Sylvain Chavanel of France a further second adrift.

Italy's Elia Viviani, who began the stage in the leader's yellow jersey, was well distanced and lost nearly three minutes on a route unsuited to his sprinting talents.

Results following the third stage of the Paris-Nice, a 170.5km run from Chatel-Guyon to Brioude on Wednesday:

Stage

1. Andrew Talansky (USA/Garmin), 4hr 6min 15sec, 2. Davide Malacarne (ITA/EUC) s.t., 3. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) s.t., 4. David Lopez (ESP/SKY) s.t., 5. Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) s.t., 6. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) s.t., 7. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) s.t. 8. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SOJ) at 7sec, 9. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) s.t, 10. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ALM) s.t.

Overall

1. Andrew Talansky (USA/Garmin) 14hr 39min 36sec, 2. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) at 3sec, 3. Davide Malacarne (ITA/EUC) s.t., 4. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/OPQ) 4, 5. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) 5, 6. Lieuwe Westra (NED/VAC) 6, 7. Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) 7, 8. Peter Velits (SVK/OPQ) s.t., 9. David Lopez (ESP/SKY) 9, 10. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SOJ) 12