Caleb Ewan beats Peter Sagan to win stage three of Tour Down Under

Caleb Ewan (L) powers past Peter Sagan to claim his second win of the week

Caleb Ewan claimed his second victory at the Tour Down Under with a power-packed finish to snatch stage three in Victor Harbour.

Australian sprinter Ewan (Orica-Scott), who won Tuesday's opening stage, came from an unpromising position off the final bend to pick up his main rivals and prevail in what turned out to be a hectic dash to the line.

Richie Porte (BMC Racing), who claimed the overall lead by winning stage two, remains 20 seconds ahead of Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar) although the Spaniard suffered injuries in a nasty crash near the end of Wednesday's stage.

Izaguirre rolled over the line some way behind the peloton but does not lose any time since the crash occurred in the closing 3km - his jersey was left ripped and he was in obvious discomfort with cuts and grazes to his left shoulder.

Most of the leading sprinters made it through that crash but Ewan appeared to be struggling coming around the final corner, where Team Sky's Danny van Poppel moved into the lead.

Richie Porte retains the overall lead with three stages remaining

But the Dutchman could not hold off a host of fast-finishing rivals, and it was Ewan who dodged his way through the traffic to beat world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida).

"I was a bit far back on the last turn," Ewan said. "I was jumping around on wheels and luckily I got through in the end.

"Today was pretty tough backing up after yesterday. It took me probably three-quarters of the race to get into it again."

Friday's stage four offers sprinters another chance to shine ahead of the likely race-deciding finish on Willunga Hill on Saturday.

Stage 3 result:

1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 3:24.45
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe all same time
3 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
4 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
5 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek Segafredo

Overall standings:

1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing 10:34.59
2 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar +20s
3 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Scott +22s
4 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe +24s
5 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data +27