After two consecutive runner-up spots, John Degenkolb and the Giant-Shimano train finally got everything right when the third stage of Paris-Nice came down to the expected bunch sprint on the Magny-Cours motor circuit in France. Having been delivered on the front excellently by his team, the German produced a really powerful sprint to easily hold off Matthews Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) to take both the stage win and the leader's jersey.

 

Team Giant-Shimano are famously known for their excellent lead-out train and today the team proved why they have risen to the top end of the hierarchy in the sprinting world. The team gave a textbook lead-out to their fast German sprinter John Degenkolb who rewarded the hard work by taking a convincing stage win.

 

Degenkolb and his train had not got everything right in the first two sprint stages and the German had publicly expressed his frustration that the little details had always gone wrong. That certainly wasn't today in today's high-speed sprint on the Magny-Cours motor circuit where he fully benefited from excellent teamwork.

 

The team hit the front with 3km to go and from there they were only briefly passed by Orica-GreenEDGE as they set a fierce pace while their rival trains jostled from position behind. When they passed the flamme rouge, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg hit the front with an impressive burst of speed and he got a bit of assistance from an Orica-GreenEDGE rider who hit the front without having his teammates in tow.

 

With 500m to go, it was time for final lead-out man Koen De Kort to kick into action and he delivered Degenkolb perfectly on the front with 200m to go. From there, the powerful German put down the hammer and Matthew Goss who had been perfectly positioned on his wheel, could not even keep up with him.

 

Degenkolb crossed the line with a big gap to Goss who narrowly held off a very fast sprint from Jose Joaquin Rojas to take second.

 

Race leader Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) could only manage 7th and as he had started the day only 2 seconds ahead of Degenkolb who scored 10 bonus seconds for his win, the German is also the new leader of the race. He takes an 8-second advantage into tomorrow's fourth stage where the nature of the race will change.

 

Degenkolb will have a hard time holding onto his jersey in the 201.5km stage from Nevers to Belleville. The race ends with four categorized climbs in the final half, with the final one being the very steep Cote du Mont Brouilly which has a 25% section. From the top 14.5km of downhill and flat roads remain, setting the scene for an exciting finale of the stage.

 

One for the sprinters

The third stage of the 72nd Paris-Nice was a real treat for the sprinters as it headed over 180 almost completely flat kilometres to from Toucy to a spectacular finish on the Magny-Cours motor circuit in Nevers. With the stage being the final chance for the pure sprinters, there was no real risk that the fast finishers would let it slip away.

 

Again the race took off under beautiful sunny conditions but the peloton had been slightly reduced in numbers. Due to yesterday's crash, Gianni Meersman has been forced to travel back home to Belgium to get a medical check-up while Lars Boom who was involved in the same crash, has been diagnosed with a fractured elbow. This is a major blow for the classics specialist. Finally, Kris Boeckmans has had to leave the race after being involved in a crash on the first day. 

 

The break is formed

As it had been the case in the first two stages, everybody knew that this is a guaranteed bunch sprint and so there was no big fight to get into early breakaway which has little chance of succeeding. At the 2.5km mark, Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar), Julien Fouchard (Cofidis), and more surprisingly Bretagne sprinter Romain Feillu took off and at the 4km mark, they were already 1 minute ahead.

 

After 7.5km of racing, the gap was two minutes and it reached 3.10 after just 16.5km. However, the sprint teams wanted to avoid a repeat of yesterday's very hectic chase and so FDJ started to control the gap very early.

 

A stable gap

After 21km, they had brought the gap down to 2.45 and for a long time they kept it stable around 3 minutes. After 65km, it had even come down to 2.15, meaning that the peloton had everything firmly under control.

 

Feillu beat Fouchard and Quemeneur at the top of the day's only climb to protect the mountains jersey of his teammate Christophe Laborie and a little later Quemeneur crossed the line at the first intermediate sprint ahead of Fouchard and Feillu.

 

OPQS try a crosswinds attack

At that points, OPQS decided that they wanted to try to split things a bit and they briefly accelerated, bringing the gap down to 1.35. They didn't succeed though and again slowed down, allowing the gap to grow back up to 2.00.

 

FDJ again took their responsibility to set the tempo and for more than 20km, Geoffrey Soupe who is gradually recovering from gastroenteritis was doing all the chase work while his teammates were well-protected on his wheel. The gap gradually grew until it reached 2.25 with 59km to go.

 

Fouchard punctures

At that point, Fouchard had bad luck as he had a rear wheel puncture. After a quick wheel change, he again had to stop to adjust his new equipment while his frustrated companions slowed down to wait for the unlucky Cofidis rider.

 

The trio rejoined 2km further up the road but the gap had now come down to 1.45. However, the mood in the peloton was completely different from the last two days as there was no real threat from the wind, meaning that the riders just travelled along at a leisurely pace with no big fight for position.

 

Soupe sets the pace

Soupe was still on the front and he allowed the gap to grow back up to 2 minutes. Up ahead, the escapees passed the final intermediate sprint without contesting it, with Fouchard being first across the line ahead of Feillu and Quemeneur.

 

After the sprint, the gap had grown to 2.15 and now Giant-Shimano decided that it was time to up the pace. Thierry Hupond hit the front and started to slowly peg back the escapees while more and more teams started to organize themselves near the front, with Astana and Sky both being very well-represented.

 

More riders join the chase

FDJ decided to add more firepower to the chase and so Cedric Pineau joined Hupond and Soupe in the pace-setting.

 

With 28km to go, Lotto Belisol tried to attack in the crosswinds, with Lars Bak, Maxime Monfort, and Tony Gallopin hitting the front, but the wind was not strong enough to make a difference and they quickly stopped their acceleration.

 

A nervous peloton

FDJ again hit the front with Benoit Vaugrenard but the attack had changed the mood of the peloton that had become way more nervous. For a long time, Astana, Sky, and FDJ lined up trains on the front of the peloton, with Alessandro Vanotti, Luke Rowe, and Vaugrenard all spending a lot of time leading their teams.

 

With 19km to go, the gap was 1.15 and 4km further up the road, Movistar tried to attack in the crosswinds. Jose Ivan Gutierrez and Imanol Erviti both took turns but again the wind was not strong enough and they quickly stopped their attack.

 

Several trains on the front

The gap had now come down to 45 seconds as Lieuwe Westra and Edvald Boasson Hagen were now on the front of the peloton for Astana and Sky. Up ahead, Quemeneur set a hard tempo on a small climb and Fouchard was unable to stay on his wheel. Feillu realized it too late and even though he tried to bridge the gap, he couldn't and so Quemeneur was now the lone leader.

 

The two chasers were quickly swallowed up as the peloton was now led by several teams who all tried to stay in position. Astana, Orica-GreenEDGE, FDJ, Movistar, and Sky all had riders patrolling the front.

 

Quemeneur rides strongly

Quemeneur did a good job to reopen his gap from 35 to 40 seconds while IAM moved ahead with 7km to go when Stefan Denifl took a turn. Boasson Hagen and Rowe took control for Sky but were passed by Jos Van Emden who led the peloton onto the circuit with 4km to go.

 

At that point, Quemeneur was still 25 seconds ahead but when Simon Gerrans hit the front from Orica-GreenEDGE, it started to come down. With 3km to go, it was finally time for Giant-Shimano to take control when five riders from the Dutch team upped the pace.

 

Giant-Shimano take control

The team battled for position with Orica-GreenEDGE but came out on top with 2km to go when they finally caught Quemeneur. Michael Matthews was allowed to take a short turn for Orica-GreenEDGE but otherwise the Dutchmen were in control all the way to the line.

 

Van Rensburg launched the sprint when they passed the flamme rouge and even though Orica-GreenEDGE tried to move up, it was De Kort who gave Degenkolb the perfect lead-out. The German didn't disappoint and took a very convincing sprint win ahead of Goss and Rojas.