"After three days of racing at Picardie I feel great. I'm ready for next week at the World Ports Classic."

Those were the words of Astana's Andrea Guardini after stage three at the Tour de Picardie. Guardini finished second behind stage winner and overall race winner Kris Boeckmans of Belgium on a well-organized course that led out to France's windy Atlantic seacoast.

Teammate Maxat Ayazbayev escaped early with nearly 20 riders, but after the first 70km of fast and difficult racing in the hills of Picardie a second group of just four riders managed to breakaway for good. Ayazbayev worked to close the gap to the breakaway in a headwind as the race approached the finish, and teammates Borut Božič and Ruslan Tleubayev worked to bring Guardini safely to the front for the final sprint.

Guardini finished the Tour de Picardie second overall, 10 seconds behind Boeckmans.

"The last two kilometers were confusing," he told Directvelo. "In a roundabout, I lost the wheel of Borut Bozic, who had to lead me out. I had to keep my position on my own, doing a long sprint in the headwind. (Kris) Boeckmans passed me in the last 50 meters. 

"Second overall [and a stage win] is a very good result, which shows that the team can trust me. I leave the Tour de Picardie with a stage win which is a pleasant surprise after my crash at Scheldeprijs. I will now do the World Ports Classics and the Tour of Belgium."