Cadel Evans showed that he is ready to work for his younger teammates when he took on the unusual role of a lead-out man for Rick Zabel in stage 3 of the Tour of Utah. In the end, the German made a mistake and had to settle for 7th.

Helped by a lead out from 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team's Rick Zabel sprinted to seventh in Wednesday's field sprint on the race track at Miller Motorsports Park. 

Zabel said the three laps of the 3.6-kilometer circuit at the end of the race were unlike any other.

"It was really wide, with lots of corners, so the peloton moved differently than in a normal sprint," Zabel said. "It was crazy."

Zabel said Evans delivered him to the front with a kilometer to go.

"Cadel did an amazing job so I had perfect position," he said. "With 250 meters to go, the sprint started and I was on the right side so I was completely in the wind. It is a bit disappointing because I had hoped for a podium place today."

Stage 1 winner Moreno Hofland (Belkin Pro Cycling Team) took the win in the 190.3-km race ahead of Andrea Palini (Lampre-Merida) and  Eric Young (Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies).

BMC Racing Team's Michael Schär remained second in the overall standings, two seconds behind Jure Kocjan (Team SmartStop Pro Cycling). The past Swiss national road champion said he enjoyed a more relaxed ride in the peloton than when he soloed the final 60 km Tuesday to narrowly take the stage win.

"I was really enjoying being in the peloton today," Schär said. "It was a pretty calm day and many guys came and congratulated me, which was nice."

Evans is also in the top 10, in sixth and 12 seconds behind Kocjan heading into Thursday's mountain-top finish.

"We had our heads up all day in case something was going to happen," BMC Racing Team Sport Director Jackson Stewart said. "In the sprint, Cadel was really amazing in positioning and willing to help out our young guy, so that was really nice to see."