Bora-Hansgrohe rider Peter Sagan of Slovakia wins third stage

Wednesday, 5 July 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: World champion Peter Sagan suffered a pedal problem in the final straight but slotted his shoe back into its clip in time and powered to victory in the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday.

The Slovak’s right shoe unclipped as he was about to produce his final burst of speed, and Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing) may have seen his chance to attack in the finale on the brutal last climb of the day.

But Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) took a second to clip his shoe back in before accelerating to outsprint Australian Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Ireland’s Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors).

Van Avermaet had to settle for fourth at the end of the 212.5-km ride from Verviers, Belgium.

Britain’s Geraint Thomas of Team Sky finished two seconds off the pace but retained the leader’s yellow jersey as the main overall favourites finished together.