Vuelta a España 2015: Peter Sagan wins first Grand Tour stage, Esteban Chaves retains lead

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Peter Sagan won his first Grand Tour in more than two years after a sprint finish on stage three of the Vuelta a España on Tuesday, while Orica-GreenEDGE’s Esteban Chaves retained the race leader’s red jersey by five seconds. Sagan edged out Cofidis rider Nacer Bouhanni on the line after the 158.4 kilometre leg to Malaga.

Sagan raced to his first stage win in a Grand Tour since the 2013 Tour de France, when he raced for Cannondale. The Slovakian rider came alongside Giant-Alpecin racer John Degenkolb before holding off Bouhanni. Sagan said he was happy for the win, but admitted he started looking for a Grand Tour win since the Tour de France last month. The 25-year-old Sagan also said he is in the Vuelta to fight for stage wins, but revealed the three-week race in Spain will help him to be ready in winning the world championship road race in Richmond, Virginia next month.

“I come here mostly for preparation, to do some race kilometres, then I’ll see how it’s going. I’m looking forward to the world championships,” Sagan said, reports Cycling News.

Team Sky’s Nicolas Roche remain in third place followed by Cannondale-Garmin racer Dan Martin at fourth. Sky leader Chris Froome finished 19th and sits eighth overall, 40 seconds behind Chaves. Froome, who is chasing a rare Tour-Vuelta double, will no longer be competing against Vincenzo Nibali, who was thrown off the race after TV images showed that the Italian rider was towed by Astana’s team car. Nibali, the 2014 Tour de France champion and 2010 Vuelta winner, apologised for his actions on his Facebook page.

“There are lots of episodes like this in cycling and especially so after a crash,” Nibali said, the Irish Times reported. “I should have been punished.”

Astana suffered another blow on the 3rd stage after Paolo Tiralongo was forced to quit the race due to a laceration to his face sustained in Sunday’s crash. Trek rider Fabian Cancellara was also pulled out of the race because of illness.

(Courtesy of BBC) Stage three result:

1. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) four hours, six minutes, 46 seconds

2. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) Same time

3. John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) Same time

4. Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) Same time

5. Maximiliano Richeze (Lampre-Merida) Same time

6. Kristian Sbaragli (MTN-Qhubeka) Same time

7. Mitchell Docker (Orica GreenEdge) Same time

8. Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory) Same time

9. Vicente Reynes (IAM) Same time

10. Tom van Asbroeck (Lotto NL-Jumbo) Same time

General classification after stage three: