Geraint Thomas was in a difficult position in the finale of today's E3 Harelbeke as he was up against a faster finisher in Peter Sagan and two riders from Omega Pharma-Quick Step. However, the Welshman was completely empty and so had to gamble everything on a sprint finish.

Geraint Thomas battled valiantly to claim third place at E3 Prijs Vlaanderen after Peter Sagan had sprinted to his first Classics success of the season.

Thomas was guided into contention brilliantly on the approach to the Oude Kwaremont and then blew the race apart as he attacked on the famous cobbled climb.

That move saw the decisive break go clear, with Thomas and Sagan (Cannondale) being joined by Omega Pharma – Quick-Step duo Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh after John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) had quickly dropped off the pace.

The quartet instantly formed an alliance, and the pace they set ensured they wouldn’t be brought back before the finish - even with Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) drilling it in pursuit.

With an extra man’s advantage, Vandenbergh and Terpstra repeatedly attacked in the final five kilometres to try and wear down their rivals, but Thomas and Sagan responded to everything they could throw at them and the foursome remained as one as they passed under the flamme rouge.

After a brief game of cat and mouse, it was Vandenbergh who led out the sprint, but Thomas shut down that move and then powered onwards to the line. Sagan had to work hard to round the Welshman on the finishing straight, but did so with aplomb and was celebrating his victory as Terpstra narrowly pipped Thomas into second place at the line.

After the race Thomas talked TeamSky.com through a tense and tactical finale to the race.

"I think I rode it as best I could," he said. "Going up the Kwaremont I thought I’d just get stuck in, attack and see what happens. Obviously it forced that group away but heading into the final with two Quick-Steps and Sagan it was pretty tough. I just felt I didn’t have the punch that Sagan and Terpstra had, so I thought I’d just gamble it all in the finish. You never know if you don’t see what happens.

"When Vandenbergh went I wanted to be first to go after him and hopefully get a bit of a run to hold off a couple of the others. Unfortunately Terpstra got round me on the line but I gave it everything. That’s all I had and I’m pretty happy with that."

Thomas also revealed that an early crash ahead of La Houppe had put the team onto the back foot early on.

"We were pretty far up in the top 20 or so but the crash was right in front of us. I just got caught up in it," he added.

"My bars were a bit skewed all day. That’s not an excuse for the sprint. The boys were really good for me. Luke (Rowe) and Gabba (Gabriel Rasch) helped me get my bike sorted out, gave me a wheel and helped get my bars almost straight. I got back going with Bernie (Eisel) and Christian (Knees) shepherding me at the front and then did everything I could on the run-in."

Ian Stannard also took a tumble shortly after Thomas's crash, but Team Sky rallied effectively and were right back on the front when the race entered its most important phase before the Paterberg.

Eisel and Knees both produced a huge turns before unleashing Thomas, and the 27 year old battled on to bag Team Sky's fourth top-three finish of the 2014 Classics campaign.