Gerald Ciolek wins Bayern Rundfahrt stage three as Ben Swift stays in the hunt
Geraint Thomas and Ben Swift are well placed at Bayern Rundfahrt after Gerald Ciolek won stage three.
Last Updated: 25/05/13 4:13pm
The duo were thrust right in the mix after some solid work from their industrious Team Sky team-mates, but it was the MTN Qhuebeka man who emerged triumphant by outpacing Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) in a pulsating finale.
Bonus points accrued on the line saw Ciolek leap to the top of the general classification and open up a six-second advantage over Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge). Swift, meanwhile, sits 10 seconds back in fourth place overall, with Thomas just three seconds further adrift in sixth.
The third day of action had taken the riders 196.8km in a westerly direction from Viechtach to Kelheim and Blel Kadri (AG2R), Ruben Moreno (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jerome Cousin (Europcar) broke clear on the day's first categorised climb.
With 80km in the legs, the trio had edged over six minutes ahead, before Orica-GreenEDGE and Team Sky began working together in the peloton.
With the likes of Joe Dombrowski and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke upping the pace, those time gains were gradually reduced and when the gap had been pegged back to a minute, Kadri shed his collaborators in a solo bid for glory.
The Frenchman's efforts always appeared in vain, and so it proved when Team Sky went hard to haul him back on the final climb of the day. By that point the peloton had been noticeably reduced, and only 100 or so riders remained in contact as they dropped into the destination town.
Team Sky stayed at the head of affairs with Lampre-Merida and FDJ as the peloton commenced the final laps in Kelheim, but despite a late flurry from Orica-GreenEDGE, it was MTN Qhuebeka who were celebrating after Ciolek produced a devastating late kick to wrap up his first win since Milan-San Remo in March.
