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Adelaide - Triple world champion Peter Sagan held off former race winners Luis Leon Sanchez and Daryl Impey to win stage three and close in on the overall lead of Australia's Tour Down Under on Thursday.
The Slovak Bora-Hansgrohe sprint superstar repeated his victory in last year's corresponding stage in Uraidla, edging out Spain's Sanchez on the line in the 146.2km leg through the Adelaide Hills in South Australia.
Sagan, who won consecutive world road race championships from 2015 to 2017, closed to within one point of overall tour leader Patrick Bevin of New Zealand.
Sagan said his experience racing on the same roads last year helped him in the closing stages.
"I won by a little bit but I won and I am very happy with that," he said.
"On the last climb, I said, 'It's going to be the same as last year again.' In the end it was like copy paper.
"My Bora-Hansgrohe team worked hard to keep me on the front and take care of me. In the end I had a lot of energy for the last lap and it was really under control."
Sanchez is in third place overall a further nine seconds behind, with Australia's Michael Storer fourth (10 seconds) and defending champion Impey fifth (11 seconds).
It was a punishing stage with temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius and riders having to negotiate six undulating circuits, including six tilts up the sapping Spring Gully Road and the up-and-down twists and turns rising towards the finish at Uraidla.
In an eventful stage there were a few attacks late on, but Sagan benefited from the small bunch grouping together in the final kilometre.
Sagan also took over the sprint leader's jersey by two points from Italy's Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) and Bevin.
Australia's Jason Lea (UniSA-Australia) retained the King of the Mountain jersey after stage three from Italy's Manuele Boaro (Astana Pro Team) and Kazakhstan’s Artyom Zakharov (Astana).
Friday's Stage 4 over 129.2km begins in Unley and again goes through the Adelaide Hills to finish in Campbelltown.
Results after the 146.2km third stage of the UCI Tour Down Under from Lobethal to Uraidla in South Australia on Thursday:
Stage
1. Peter Sagan (SVK/BORA-hansgrohe) 3hr 46min 06sec
2. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/Astana Pro Team) same time
3. Daryl Impey (RSA/Mitchelton-SCOTT) s.t.
4. Danny Van Poppel (NED/Team Jumbo Visma) s.t.
5. Patrick Bevin (NZL/CCC Team) s.t.
6. Jan Polanc (SLO/UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
7. Ruben Guerrero (POR/Team Katusha Alpecin) s.t.
8. Tadej Pogcar (SLO/UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
9. Christopher Hamilton (AUS/Team Sunweb) s.t.
10. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team) s.t.
General Classification
1. Patrick Bevin (NZL/CCC Team) 10 hr 20 min 09 sec
2. Peter Sagan (SVK/BORA-hansgrohe) at 1 sec
3. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/Astana Pro Team) +9
4. Michael Storer (AUS/Team Sunweb) +10
5. Daryl Impey (RSA/Mitchelton-SCOTT) +11
6. Danny Van Poppel (NED/Team Jumbo Visma) +15
7. Jan Polanc (SLO/UAE Team Emirates) same time
8. Ryan Gibbons (RSA/Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka) s.t.
9. Christopher Hamilton (AUS/Team Sunweb) s.t.
10. George Bennett (NZL/Team Jumbo Visma) s.t.
Sprint Leader
1. Peter Sagan (SVK/BORA-hansgrohe) 36 pts
2. Elia Viviani (ITA/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 34 pts
3. Patrick Bevin (NZL/CCC Team) 34 pts
King of the Mountain
1. Jason Lea (AUS/UniSA-Australia) 20 pts
2. Manuele Boaro (ITA/Astana Pro Team) 12 pts
3. Artyom Zakharov (KAZ/Astana Pro Team) 12 pts
