Slovakia’s Sagan wins third stage of Tour de France

AP - Peter Sagan of Slovakia won a crash-marred third stage of the Tour de France which came home from Belgium along five small-scale climbs to an uphill finish.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland remained the overall leader for a fourth straight day after Tuesday’s 197-kilometer trek from Orchies to the fishing port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Sagan won his second stage in his debut Tour by outpacing a splintered pack with less than 300 meters left. He pumped his arms as he crossed the finish, several lengths ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway in second and fellow Slovak Peter Velits in third.

Cancellara leads Bradley Wiggins of Britain in second and Sylvain Chavanel of France in third, both seven seconds back. Defending champion Cadel Evans climbed from eighth to sixth place, 17 seconds behind.