Gerald Ciolek and MTN-Qhubeka are still trying hard to repeat last year's stage victory in the Bayern Rundfahrt but they missed out in another sprint opportunity in stage 3. The team now only has one chance left: the final stage to Nürnberg on Sunday.

Daryl Impey (Orica Greenedge) and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Giant Shimano) made it a good day for South African cycling as the pair went 1 – 2 on the 3rd stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt, respectively.  Alexander Porsev (Katusha) was the rider who finished in 3rd place. Gerald Ciolek from Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung was again in the mix after a great leadout from his teammates, Ciolek took 6th place on the line.

Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing), Tino Thomel (Stuttgart), Sebastian Deckert (LKT Brandenburg) and Heiner Parra (Caja – Rural) were the 4 riders that weren’t going to hand the stage over to the sprinters all that easily as they broke clear of the peloton and pushed out a lead of 6’30″. Along with Katusha, Orica Greenedge and MTN-Qhubeka had to do a lot of work to reel the break in. Voigt showed his strength despite his age once again by being the final rider to be caught with just 2km’s to.

In the final km’s, Impey jumped clear of the peloton with 3km’s to go and once he passed Voigt, he would not be caught. Janse van Rensburg brought the fast charging peloton home. Tomorrows 4th stage will be a 25km time trial and for the Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung riders it will be a good test as it is the fisrt individual time trial for some of the riders this year.

"It was another long day and tough day, we started in the rain with a temperature of only 6 degrees," Directeur Sportif Jens Zemke said. "Later it stopped raining and increased to 12 degrees at least. The team were riding for Gerald and they definitely rode better than what the result suggests.

"We brought him to a good spot for the sprint and he ended up 6th. Daryl went clear in the final 3km’s and wasnt caught whilr Reini came 2nd so it was a good day for South African cycling. For our team though, it could have been a bit better. We are still fighting to repeat our win from last year."