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Nuyens wins stage and overall lead
![]() Nuyens celebrates after taking victory and the leader's jersey GENEVA, Switzerland -- Belgium's Nick Nuyens used his excellent sprint finish to win the 184km third stage of the Tour of Switzerland and take the overall race lead. The Quick Step team rider attacked with Spain's Koldo Gil and Germany's Linus Gerdemann and Joerg Jaksche on the final climb of the stage and then comfortably outpaced his three rivals at the finish in Arlesheim. Spain's Oscar Freire won the race for fifth place, 11 seconds behind Nuyens. Thanks to the 10-second time bonus for his win, Nuyens also took the overall race lead from Italy's Daniele Bennati, who is now third, six seconds adrift. T-Mobile's Gerdemann is second at five seconds. It was Quick Step's second win of the race after world champion and team leader Tom Boonen took the opening stage in Baden on Saturday. "It's good to win because I was disappointed to finish second in the recent GP Gippingen race in Switzerland," said Nuyens. "I went with the attack to be up there for Tom if the race came back together and with him behind in the chasing peloton I knew I could wait for the sprint." "When we managed to open a good gap I started thinking about my own race and knew I had a chance. I chased after Koldo Gil when he attacked in the final 500m and then, after catching my breath, I launched my own sprint. "I was tired but luckily Gerdemann couldn't get past me." Nuyens, 26, is considered one of the most talented young Belgian riders and has won the prestigious Paris-Brussels and Het Volk one-day races. Last year he also won a stage and the overall classification in the Tour of Britain. However, he is not suited to the long Alpine climbs of the Tour of Switzerland and said he would not be able to win the nine-day race. "It'll be nice to wear the leader's yellow jersey during stage four but I don't know how long I can keep it for," he said. "We'll see what happens because the fourth stage isn't too tough but after that the big mountains start." Tuesday's 151km fourth stage is from Niederbipp to La Chaux-de-Fonds in the western Romandie region of Switzerland. The stage includes two short climbs but the descent to the finish is expected to produce a sprint for the line. The Tour of Switzerland finishes on Sunday with a 30km time trial to Bern.
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