For the third stage in the 2015 Tour de Suisse, the peloton came in for a group sprint with Team Katusha riders Daniel Moreno and Simon Špilak once again part of the main action.  Moreno sprinted in for second place behind winner Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo Bank), showing his continued good form in the pre-Tour de France lead-up race.

"I felt pretty well after yesterday’s efforts, and it was good that we did the first climb without much stress. It was an interesting experience with pave sectors on the climb. In the final we tried to be in front with Simon. He did a good job in the last km to close all attacks and to bring me in good position. It was a downhill finish. I went in front but on the left corner Sagan passed me and later it was impossible to come back in the first position because it was a very fast descent in the last few hundred meters. So, again second place for me.  But I am happy with my feelings. Tomorrow is a flat stage, while on Wednesday it will be a really hard stage," said team rider Daniel Moreno.

Joining Moreno and Sagan for the stage podium was Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) in third place, all on the same time at 3:00.36.  Moreno’s efforts moved him into second place at 5-seconds behind Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) for the general classification.  Moreover Moreno’s regularity gave him the black points jersey. Teammate Špilak remains in 10th at nineteen seconds after three days of racing.

It was a shortened stage at 117,3km, due to a previous landslide blocking sections of original route.  The start in Quinto took the riders over the historic Gotthard-Pass with its cobblestones and many switchbacks.  On the climb a break of three riders was established who went clear for more than 6 minutes on the middle flat sections of the course.  It was on the final two climbs in the last 20km that the gap came down rapidly before being reabsorbed with the main field coming to the finish line in a big group.  Sagan went long and was chased by Moreno and others, but managed to sit up and celebrate on the finish line in Olivone.

In Tuesday’s stage 4 Dani Moreno will start in its black jersey in Flims Laax Falera. The stage finishes in Schwarzenbach SG after 193km.  The course includes local laps at the end with a category 3 climb included each time around but it should be a day for the pure sprinters to survive and give a show of speed for the final.