INTERNATIONAL: Denmark’s Mads Pedersen won the sprint finish to take Stage 3 of the Paris-Nice race on Tuesday (March 8) after overall leader Christophe Laporte crashed on the final straight.

Trek-Segafredo rider Pedersen beat Frenchman Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Belgian Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) to the line in a dramatic finish which saw Laporte fall to the ground after getting caught up with another rider in the final 500 meters.

The Frenchman was able to get back on his bike and finish the stage with a bleeding leg. He now leads his teammate van Aert by just one second and Slovenian Primoz Roglic by nine seconds.

Pedersen had said "We missed out yesterday with a bit of bad luck with (Alex) Kirsch having a puncture and me losing a chain. We wanted to make it up today and man the boys did a fantastic job the whole day to make it as easy as possible for me."

^{PHOTO: HIGHLIGHTS FROM STAGE 3 OF THE PARIS-NICE}