The 98 kilometer third stage of Tour du Poitou Charentes was dominated by an early breakaway consisting of a single rider but the sprinters were eager to finally get their piece after missing the boat during the first two stages.

Evaldas Siskevisius formed the first breakaway while CULT Energy Pro Cycling’s riders spent the morning in the bunch. As the field reeled in the five escapees, new attacks started to fly from left and right and with 5 kilometers remaining, Anthiny Turgis (Cofidis) threatened to take it all with a promising gap to the field.

But eventually, the Cofidis rider was brought back and in the frantic bunch sprint, Marc Sarreau (FDJ) was first across the finish line to conquer his first professional win. CULT Energy Pro Cycling’s Rasmus Quaade finished 12th and moves into 4th overall. He is now ready for the individual time trial later this afternoon.

DS Luke Roberts says:

"Today's first stage was all about securing Rasmus' position in the GC and the boys did very well. Actually, he managed to move into 4th overall before the TT. We're aiming for an overall top-10 position in the race so this is an excellent opportunity for Rasmus to secure a good overall result. But he's up against the multiple World Champion Tony Martin and TT expert Adriano Malori and Martin starts his TT one minute before Rasmus. The course is fairly undulating without any specific climbs so it suits Rasmus rather well but unfortunately the same goes for his biggest rivals."