Team Katusha's Russian rider Sergey Lagutin took 4th place in today's third stage of the Tour de Wallonie, moving up to 3rd place in the overall classification of the Belgium race.

"First of all, I would like to thank my teammates for the help during today’s stage. The team provided strong support for me on the final climb, helping to find a good position. Until the very last moment I was fighting for a podium place, but was a little bit blocked in the last corner. But anyway, I am satisfied with the stage – I was able to move up to 3rd place in the general classification. I feel pretty good and I am looking forward to the next two stages, one of which will be a really hard one. I am very motivated as well as the whole team," said Sergey Lagutin.

The third stage of the Tour de Wallonie started in Bastogne and ended on the top of a short but very steep climb to Citadelle de Namur. A break of 5 riders including Gatis Smukulis of Team Katusha broke away in the first part of the race and was able to stay in front until the last few kilometers, where it was neutralized.

In the final, after a solo attack inside the last km, Philippe Gilbert from BMC was the rider who won the stage. Four seconds later a group of chasers took the other places on the daily podium: Pieter Serry from Etixx – Quick Step was second, Thomas Sprengers from Topsport Vlaanderen finished third, while Sergey Lagutin was 4th.

Unfortunately, Katusha’s Alexey Tsatevich and Viacheslav Kuznetsov were involved  in a big crash during the stage. The latter was able to continue the race, while the former was moved to the hospital for medical checking. Fortunately, no fracture was revealed.

In the general classification Niki Terpstra from Etixx – Quick Step still holds the lead, while Sergey Lagutin is 3rd , 36 seconds behind the leader.

Tomorrow it will be the fourth stage of the race: 164,6 km from Waterloo to Quaregnon.