Slovakian youngster Peter Sagan of the Liquigas team won the shortened third stage of the Paris-Nice race in central France here on Wednesday.

Sagan, 20, moved up to second place in the overall standings but Germany’s Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) assumed the leader’s yellow jersey after finishing fourth in the 153-kilometre ride, which had been cut by 50km due to snow.

“I hesitated at the end between wanting to pull clear of the peloton and really trying to win the stage,” said Voigt.

“It was a difficult decision to make. In the end I found myself poorly placed with 500 meters to go and I came fourth. But it’s enough to take the yellow jersey and I’m very happy with that.”

Sagan was one of the revelations of Sunday’s prologue, where he finished fifth, and beat Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez and Ireland’s Nicolas Roche to the line in a sprint finish here.

The trio led home a small group of riders that broke away less than 3km from the finish.

Spain’s Alberto Contador, the reigning Tour de France champion, finished in this six-man group, which also featured Voigt and his countryman Tony Martin.

Contador is now in seventh place in the overall standings, 20 seconds behind Voigt, while overnight leader Lars Boom of the Netherlands slipped to sixth place after being left behind on the final climb.

Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez, meanwhile, was unable to keep pace with Contador when he accelerated in response to an attack from Roche but remains third overall.

The race start, initially set to take place in Saint-Junien, was moved to Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche after heavy snowfall in the region overnight.

Thursday’s fourth stage, a 173.5km ride from Maurs to Mende, concludes with the only hill finish of the race.

Cadel Evans had this to say about the opening stage; “Short but cold start to the ‘race of the two seas’, but to think we were happy to have a dry 6C day, says something about the extended winter Europe is experiencing right now… In the race, it got cold and intense in the final, it seems it was more a finish of who could get into position in the last 2km and hold it rather than an actual ‘sprint’ – a hard win anyway, congrats to Gerdemann. It will be interesting how long he can hold the jersey for here; I’m guessing longer than most expect. Another cold but tougher day tomorrow – I’ll be happy if I can continue like this; healthy and in contention….”

Alberto Contador had this to say about the day; The day began with a snowstorm that forced the organization to shorten the stage on 50 kilometers, although the hardness of the day was not reduced too. “It was a day marked by the cold”, Contador confirmed. “They have shortened the race on 50 km due to snow, but at the end we could do the stage, but always marked by the cold”.

“There was a small climb on the end, almost anything”, said Contador, “just over a kilometer, but is that the cold hurt and the group has been cut in several parts”. The leader of Astana, however, was ahead, showing that the blow on the left leg is almost forgotten. “The legs responded quite well for now and I hope tomorrow they will be good too”, said Alberto, referring to the finish in Mende.

“Rather than try, was a matter to avoid lost time”, he said about his performance today. “I was able to do, but in the sprint I\’ve touched a columbia’s rider (Tony Martin) and I had to drag the foot along the road until I came back to get it into the pedal. I hope that those seconds were resolved”, he concluded.

The race start, initially set to take place in Saint-Junien, was moved to Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche after heavy snowfall in the region overnight.

Thursday’s fourth stage, a 173.5km ride from Maurs to Mende, concludes with the only hill finish of the race.

STAGE 3 RESULTS
1. Peter Sagan (SVK/LIQ), 3hr 44min 28sec,
2. Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) same time,
3. Nicolas Roche (IRL/ALM) s.t.,
4. Jens Voigt (GER/SAX) at 02sec,
5. Tony Martin (GER/THR) 02,
6. Alberto Contador (ESP/AST) 02,
7. Mirco Lorenzetto (ITA/LAM) 06,
8. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 06,
9. Xavier Florencio (ESP/CTT) 06,
10. Marco Marcato (ITA/VAC) 06,
11. Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS/KAT) 06,
12. Simon Geschke (GER/SKS) 06,
13. Eduard Vorganov (RUS/KAT) 06,
14. Alexandre Botcharov (RUS/KAT) 06,
15. Thierry Hupond (FRA/SKS) 06,
16. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/GCE) 06,
17. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA/FDJ) 06,
18. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/QST) 06,
19. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 06,
20. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 06

Overall classification after three stages:
1. Jens Voigt (GER/SAX) 12hr 40min 26sec,
2. Peter Sagan (SVK/LIQ) at 06,
3. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 09,
4. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 12,
5. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 14,
6. Lars Boom (NED/RAB) 20,
7. Alberto Contador (ESP/AST) 20,
8. Levi Leipheimer (USA/RSH) 24,
9. Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 28,
10. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 28,
11. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/GCE) 30,
12. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/EUS) 33,
13. Janez Brajkovic (SLO/RSH) 34,
14. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 34,
15. Remi Pauriol (FRA/COF) 37