Sergio Henao sprinted to seventh place after a gruelling third stage at the Tour of California.

The Colombian went up against his general classification rivals on the uphill drag to the finish in San Jose as the race hit the climbs for the first time.

Team Sky worked hard during the 169.8-kilometre stage, setting a searing pace over the beyond-category Mt. Hamilton and stringing out the peloton on the run for home.

Despite that there was no stopping breakaway rider Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team), with the 23-year-old putting in a spirited ride to hold off the chasing pack by one minute and six seconds.

That also elevated the Latvian into the race lead, with both Pete Kennaugh and Henao sitting 47 seconds back overall in 11th and 15th respectively.

Kennaugh was among those pushing on the final ramp alongside, Christian Knees, Ian Boswell and Philip Deignan as Team Sky looked to minimise their losses to the new race leader.

At the finish Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) jumped out of the pack to claim second ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx - Quick-Step).

Earlier the break took a long time to establish itself, with seven riders finally forging ahead as the race flashed through Livermore.

Tinkoff-Saxo set about pacing the field early, before Team Sky hit the front as the peloton reached Mt. Hamilton. Boswell led the line initially with Danny Pate and Xabier Zandio helping to push the team on over the undulating terrain.

With a gap of over four minutes leading onto the beyond-category climb the break quickly split into three and Skujins pushed clear solo. Despite a brief crash on the descent his gap was large enough to hold on and turn a brave attack into a 32-second race lead.