The season for Davide Cimolai started in a very interesting way and after the victory in theTrofeo Laigueglia, he obtained a 2nd place in the 3rd stage of the Paris-Nice.

In Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule, 179 km from the start in Saint Amand Montrond, Matthews was the fastest rider of the bunch in the final mass sprint but Cimolai was very competitive and he beat Nizzolo, Kristoff and Rojas in the battle for second.

In the overall classification, Plaza is 15th (17" behind the new leader Matthews) and Rui Costa climbs up two places (27th at 22").

"I gave my best and I'm happy with the result," Cimolai said. "I could not do better because today Matthews was the strongest. The only chance I could have to try to precede him was to start the sprint very far from the finish, at 300 meter to go, but it was a risky solution.

"For today stage, the team's directors gave me the opportunity to be the captain and I thank the team mates for their support. They were all perfect in organizing a lead-out train and Bonifazio was super in driving me to the best positions in the front of the peloton".

The 4th stage of Paris-Nice will end with the summit finish on the Croix de Chauboret, 1st category climb of 10 km at 6,7%.