Australian rider Simon Gerrans held off a late charge by Slovakia's Peter Sagan to win Monday's Stage 3 of the Tour de France.
Gerrans had to stave off a late-charging Sagan, who almost caught up to him before edging out the Serbian for his second career win at the Tour de France.
"To beat a guy like Sagan in a sprint like that, I'm very happy," said Gerrans, regarding last year's green jersey winner for the points classification. "It went perfectly for me."
Belgium's Jan Bakelants held on to the yellow jersey, ahead of the field by a one-second margin, going into tomorrow's Stage 4. Sagan's second place finish allows him to take the green jersey from Stage 1 winner, Marcel Kittel. The green jersey is given to the best sprinter in the field.
"The team worked very hard for me, and I'm very happy to keep the yellow jersey," said Bakelants. "It was a very hot day and the conditions were not easy. It was a very demanding day."
Stage 3, which started in Ajaccio--the town where French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769--was the last of the trio on the island of Corsica before the race heads to French mainland for Tuesday's team time trial in Nice.
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