Sagan pips Kristoff for third 2016 Tour stage win

BERN, France: World champion Peter Sagan claimed his third 2016 Tour de France stage victory when he pipped Alexander Kristoff on the line at the end of the 16th stage, a 209-km ride from Moirans-en-Montagne on Monday.

Norway’s Kristoff (Katusha) celebrated after crossing the line, but it was Slovak Sagan (Tinkoff) who actually finished first after throwing his bike in a timely fashion, strengthening his grip on the green jersey for the points classification.

Another Norwegian, Sondre Holst Enger (IAM Cycling), took third place.

Sagan now has 405 points to Briton Mark Cavendish’s 291 and looks set to win a fifth green jersey in Paris.

Briton Chris Froome (Team Sky) retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey after finishing in the leading pack in a twisting course finale in the Swiss capital.

Fans, officials and riders observed a minute’s silence at 1200 local time, shortly before the start of the race, in memory of the victims of the Bastille Day attack in Nice.

Three-time time trial world champion Tony Martin and his Etixx-Quick Step teammate Julian Alaphilippe, who was denied a possible stage win on Sunday because of a mechanical problem in the final descent, broke away early on.

The duo built a six-minute gap but Frenchman Alaphilippe ran out of steam 30km from the finish and German Martin was caught by the bunch 22.5km from the line.

Former world champion Rui Costa then jumped away from the pack but the Portuguese was reined in with 5km left in the streets of Bern.

Numerous turns and an uphill cobbled section split the peloton and Sagan was again the strongest in the final sprint.

At first glance, Norway’s Kristoff seemed to have won, but a close inspection showed the world champion Sagan had edged past him by the rubber on his front wheel.

“I was not waiting for the results. I thought I was second until they came and told me I had won. It’s unbelievable after so many times finishing second,” said Sagan, who has been second 17 times on Tour stages.

The Slovak, who won his third Tour stage this year and seventh in total, said it was a technical mistake that cost Kristoff what would have been his third stage success at the race after two in 2014.

“You can see from the final picture — I’ve lost a lot of times like this, by a very small piece of tyre,” said Sagan, 26.

“Today I was lucky. Alexander just made his jump on the line very late, I jumped before.

“When you jump, you have to pull the bike on the front — at that moment he was pulling on the back, not on the front.”

For race leader Chris Froome, who finished safely in a much-reduced peloton alongside his main overall rivals, there’s nothing lucky about what Sagan does. “He’s a phenomenal rider — most people in the peloton are scared of him,” said the 31-year-old Briton.

“It’s just his ability — he can do everything. He chooses when he wants to go in a breakaway, how he wants to ride the finish.

“I’m actually surprised he didn’t attack on that last climb and ride away solo, but he still managed to win the stage.”