Tinkoff-Saxo’s team captain Peter Sagan wins stage 3 of Tour de Suisse after having timed his sprint to perfection on the very difficult final kilometer. Sagan received valuable support from his team with Rafal Majka setting the pace at the front on the last 19 kilometers. “I'm happy to have won. Big thanks to the whole team, without them it wouldn't have happened”, says Peter Sagan.
 
After crossing the finish line as winner of stage 3, Peter Sagan attended the press conference, where he described the final sprint.
 
"The tempo was high, Rafal Majka did a great job on the last hill and he held the group together for the sprint finish. Then it was my turn to launch and I'm happy to have won.  It was also difficult because the last curve seemed to be a left one so I went left. But it was to the right so I had to change my course. Big thanks to the whole team, without them it wouldn't have happened. I'm pleased we have the first victory at Tour de Suisse”, says Peter Sagan before describing the stage and work done by the team:
 
“I'm very happy with how the stage went and the work by the entire squad. Today's stage was difficult and on top of that it also rained. One group broke away with a lead of 6 minutes. Our team was leading out front on the last 40km and just before the last two hills the gap was only 2 minutes. They pulled very hard during the stage and Rafal Majka helped me a lot during the last two climbs. I can say that we won thanks to the teamwork we showed. I'm very happy with this victory but tomorrow is another day and we will see what happens”.
 
Peter Sagan’s stage win also netted him 10 bonus seconds and he moves to 3rd in the overall classification behind Tom Dumoulin (TGA). The 117,3km stage 3 from Quinto to Olivone finished off with a tricky run-in towards the finish line with the last sharp curve coming with just 75 meters to the line. Tinkoff-Saxo’s sports director Sean Yates tells that the squad had executed the team plans.
 
“We’re obviously very pleased with this stage win. Peter did a superb sprint in the wake of a very valuable work by Rafal, who pulled the last 19km at the front of the main group. Peter positioned himself for the final 300 meters perfectly and went past to take the lead through the chicane. We told the guys that the stage finish was very tricky with several sharp bends in the sprint and they executed our plan in great style. The entire team made a big effort to control the race and the breakaway and Peter showed that he is strong here in Tour de Suisse – something we’ve known since the prologue”, comments Sean Yates and continuous:
 
“Today Rafal was better than yesterday and very strong in the finale. Going into the last categorized climb, the break had 60 seconds. Peter was fine with Rafal just revving up the speed and on the top it had come down to 30 second. Thereafter, Rafal played a key role in controlling the race and Peter rode the finale well, stayed at the front and launched a very powerful sprint. Of course, you never know how it would have been, if Rafal hadn’t been there but it surely meant that we could control the finale to a greater extent”.