Santos Tour Down Under: Simon Gerrans leads after stage three win

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Highlights from stage three of the Santos Tour Down Under as Simon Gerrans won to take the overall lead

Simon Gerrans moved into the overall lead of the Santos Tour Down Under by sprinting to victory in a pulsating finale on stage three in Campbelltown.

The Orica-GreenEdge rider pipped fellow Australian Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) into second place and Michael Woods (Cannondale) into third after the trio had formed part of a 10-man lead group on the late climb and subsequent descent of Corkscrew Road.

Having picked up 10 bonus seconds for the victory, three-time race winner Gerrans now takes over at the top of the general classification from Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff), who was fourth on the day and is now second overall, three seconds back.

Gerrans (right) pipped Rohan Dennis (left) to victory on stage three

Dennis collected six bonus seconds for finishing runner-up and rises to third overall, five seconds off the lead.

Gerrans said: "That was super-tough coming up the Corkscrew, because obviously there are some really good climbers in the race, so I really had to time my effort well and come back over the top to the guys just in front of me, and we were able to catch the first couple of guys on the descent.

Gerrans opens up a three-second lead at the top of the general classification

 "Rohan and I drag-raced through the last 100m or so the line and I was just able to get over him in the end, so I'm really chuffed."

After the peloton reached 'The Corkscrew' all together, Richie Porte (BMC Racing) blew it apart with an acceleration midway up the 3.8km climb that led to riders such as Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) being dropped.

Sergio Henao (Team Sky) then attacked and crested the summit with Woods in tow, but the pair were caught on the descent by an eight-man chase group led by Gerrans, Dennis and Porte as riders reached speeds over almost 105kmh.

Richi Porte (centre right) broke the peloton up with an attack on the Corkscrew

The 10 leaders entered the finished straight together and although Gerrans started his sprint from a long way back, he was able to edge past Dennis in the final 20m.

Gerrans added: "I felt we really had to take our lives into our hands in that final. There was a big crash in the gorge and a couple of very hairy moments on the descent of the Corkscrew, so I'm thrilled to have been able to win the stage, but there was some risk involved."

The Santos Tour Down Under continues on Friday with a rolling, 138km fourth stage from Norwood to Victor Harbor. Watch it live on Sky Sports 1HD from 2.30am-4.55am GMT.

You can also watch highlights of stage three on Sky Sports 4HD from 6.30pm-7pm on Thursday.

Stage three result

1 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, 3:37:34

2 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing, same time

3 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale, st

4 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff, st

5 Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr, st

6 Rafael Valls (Esp) Lotto Soudal, st

7 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky, st

8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st

9 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing, st

10 Ruben Fernandez (Esp) Movistar, st

General classification

1 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, 10:28:12

2 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff, +3secs

3 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing, +5

4 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale, +11

5 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky, +15

6 Rafael Valls (Esp) Lotto Soudal, same time

7 Ruben Fernandez (Esp) Movistar, st

8 Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr, st

9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st

10 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing, st