Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) took his third WorldTour sprint win this season in today's third stage of the Tour de France when the Australian came out triumphant from a photo finish. For the second day in a row, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) had to settle for second but took over the points jersey from Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) while Jan Bakelants (Radioshack) defended his yellow jersey.

Orica-GreenEdge had a phenomenal first season in 2012 but the team missed out on its biggest objective which was a stage win at the Tour de France. Today the team finally got to tick off that box as Simon Gerrans beat Peter Sagan in a photo finish at the end of a very hilly third stage in Corsica.

The Orica-GreenEdge rider had pinpointed today's stage as one of his major season objectives and his intentions were clear throughout the entire day as his Orica-GreenEdge team always featured prominently near the front of the peloton. Teammate Daryl Impey gave his Australian captain a perfect lead-out which allowed him to take his fourth grand tour stage win.

At the bottom of the day's final climb, the Col de Marsolino, whose top was located at the 13,5km mark, Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) and Sebastien Minard (Ag2r) formed a leading duo and were chased by their former escape companions Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Alexis Vuillermoz (Sojasun) and Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil). The Radioshack team was working hard at the front of the peloton to protect the Jan Bakelants' yellow jersey.

Clarke had picked up 5 points on the day's first climb and would take over the polka-dot jersey if he could stay away over the top and so he put down the hammer. Minard was unable to respond and was overtaken by Gautier who had attacked Westra and Vuillermoz.

Thos two were picked up by the peloton which was now led by Laurent Didier and Tony Gallopin from Radioshack while all the big race favourites had positioned themselves near the front of the peloton. Early on the climb, Igor Anton (Euskaltel) launched an attack and he quickly overtook Minard who fell back into the peloton. The Euskaltel leader did, however, never get a big gap and like Gautier, he was absorbed into the main group which was still led by Gallopin.

Saxo-Tinkoff decided to up the pace and put Nicolas Roche on the front, the Irishman further reducing the size of the group as riders kept dropping off. Later Nairo Quintana (Movistar) took over with team leader Alejandro Valverde behind while Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) was the next to up the pace.

Pierre Rolland (Europcar) was eager to defend his mountains jersey and so he attacked with teammate Davide Malacarne. Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel) set off in pursuit and bridged the gap to the Europcar duo. They overtook Clarke whose long escape ended with 14km to go.

When Malacarne had finished his job and fell back into the peloton, Rolland attacked, Nieve being unable to respond. The Frenchman crested the summit in first position and doubled his tally to 10, thus allowing him to enjoy another couple of days in the polka-dot jersey.

Lars Petter Nordhaug (Belkin) set off in pursuit of the leaders while Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) made a late acceleration over the top of the climb. The Belgian was, however, not allowed any leeway but managed to string out the peloton.

Nordhaug bridged the gap to Nieve while Roche guided the peloton down the descent. With 11km to go, Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) launched one of his trademark accelerations, quickly overtaking Nieve and Nordhaug and bridging the gap to Rolland.

Nieve and Nordhaug also joined the leaders, thus forming a very strong lead quartet in which Chavanel did most of the work. However, the peloton had started to organize a chase and Cameron Meyer, Michael Albasini and Clarke (Orica GreenEdge), Andreas Klöden and Maxime Monfort (Radioshack) and Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale all worked hard to bring back the escape.

With 4km to go, Nordhaug attacked just as the break was about to get caught but he got nowhere. Rolland countered but moments later all escapees were back in the peloton which was under firm control Meyer.

With 2,5km to go, Tom Dumoulin (Argos-Shimano) attacked and built up a solid gap over the peloton which was now led by Andy Schleck (Radioshack) and Michael Schär (BMC). It was now Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) who hit the front to lead out teammte Michal Kwiatkowski.

As the peloton passed the flamme rouge, Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) led out Sagan and caught Dumoulin in the process. The Cannondale duo was, however, overtaken by Impey and Gerrans but Sagan managed to get into the latter's wheel.

Gerrans and Sagan went head-to-head and no one celebrated as they crossed the line, clearly unable to determine the winner themselves. However, Gerrans was declared the winner after a photo finish while Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) finished 3rd.

Bakelants finished safely in 17th and defended his leader's jersey. He takes a 1-second time gap into tomorrow's first crucial stage for the GC, the 25km team time trial in Nice.

Starting at 15.00, you can follow the entire stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

A calm start

The 145,5km third stage was the final in Corsica and its hilly route invited to attacks. Hence, it was a surprise that no one reacted when Westra launched the first attack immediately after the official start.

A little later, Vuillermoz and Minard set off in pursuit, quickly bridging the gap and the trio was later joined by Clarke and Gautier while the peloton rolled along at a leisurely pace. As they hit the bottom of the day's first climb, the Col de San Bastiano, Jens Voigt and Markel Irizar upped the tempo as they wanted to defend Bakelants' jersey.

Battle for points

At the top, Gautier accelerated to take maximum points but it came down to a close sprint between Clarke and Vuillermoz, the Australian taking a narrow win and 1 point. The peloton - still led by Voigt and Irizar - crested the summit 4.20 later.

After 28,5km, the riders contested the intermediate sprint and while the escapees were not interested at all, the big sprinters battled hard for the remaining points. Cannondale and Argos-Shimano battled for control and it was the Dutch team which came out triumphant, delivering green jersey Marcel Kittel to the line. The German beat compatriot Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) while Sagan was relegated to 5th by Alexander Kristoff (Katusha).

Radioshack back in control

The sprint action had brought the gap down to just 2.30 but Radioshack allowed it to grow back up to more than 3 minutes before they started to reel the escapees back in.

On the day's second climb, the Col de San Martino, Clarke once again edged out Vuillermoz in the sprint for the points while the peloton took it easy on the lower slopes. However, the descent was very technical and so Sky and Saxo-Tinkoff battled hard over the top to start the downhill section in first position.

Belkin accelerates

It ended up being BMC who led the peloton down the descent but the fierce acceleration had brought the gap down to just 30 seconds. Moments later, Belkin hit the front, the Dutch team riding aggressively to bring Mollema safely down the descent.

The Dutchmen continued their effort on the lower slopes of the Cote de Porto which saw many of the sprinters drop off, Kittel and Cavendish being two of those. However, they stopped a little later, once again allowing the gap to grow back up to more than a minute.

More points for Clarke

Clarke once again edged out Vuillermoz at the top but the Australian would still have to pick up points on the final climb to take over the lead in the mountains classification. Behind, Sky had a brief stint on the front before Radioshack once again took control.

Voigt and Irizar stabilized the gap for some time but with 40km to go, they upped the pace significantly. They gradually reduced the gap which was less than 1 minute at the 23km mark.

Minard attacks

Minard attacked to take the prix de la combativite but was brought back by his companions. Instead, it was Clarke's later acceleration that brought a separation as only Minard was able to respond.

As Voigt and Irizar ramped up the pace on the gradual ascending roads, the sprinters started to drop off. Kittel, Cavendish, Greipel, Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) all fell off before the climb officially started.

That was when Minard could not keep up with Clarke, thus starting the hectic final part of the race.

Result:

1. Simon Gerrans 3.41.24

2. Peter Sagan

3. Jose Joaquin Rojas

4. Michal Kwiatkowski

5. Philippe Gilbert'

6. Juan Antonio Flecha

7. Francesco Gavazzi

8. Maxime Bouet

9. Julien Simon

10. Gorka Izagirre

General classification:

1. Jan Bakelants 12.21.27

2. Julien Simon +0.01

3. Simon Gerrans

4. Michal Kwiatkowski

5. Edvald Boasson Hagen

6. Daryl Impey

7. David Millar

8. Sergey Lagutin

9. Cadel Evans

10. Romain Bardet

Points classification:

1. Peter Sagan 74

2. Marcel Kittel 57

3. Alexander Kristoff 48

4. Michal Kwiatkowski 41

5. Lars Boom 40

Mountains classification:

1. Pierre Rolland 10

2. Simon Clarke 5

3. Blel Kadri 5

4. Mikel Nieve 3

5. Cyril Gautier 2

Youth classification:

1. Michal Kwiatkowski 12.21.28

2. Romain Bardet

3. Peter Sagan

4. Nairo Quintana

5. Tejay Van Garderen

Teams classification:

1. Radioshack 37.04.23

2. BMC +0.01

3. Vacansoleil

4. Lampre-Merida

5. Orica-GreenEdge