RÜSCHLIKON: Thibau Nys won a steep uphill sprint to take the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Tuesday as Italian Alberto Bettiol took the yellow jersey.
Nys, a 21-year-old Belgian, attacked in the final 200 metres for his seventh road racing win of the year.
The 162km ride from Steinmaur ended with a sharp climb off Lake Zurich to the finish in Rueschlikon that eliminated the pure sprinters.
Lidl-Trek team rider Nys, who also races cyclo-cross, powered away from the leading group and was chased across the line by Briton Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) and Italian Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost).
Nys crashed in nearby Gippingen in the Tour of Aargau last Friday, but that day was not entirely wasted.
"I was so disappointed about the crash in Gippingen, it was so difficult to get over it because I knew I was close to winning there," Nys said. "But then on the way to the hotel after the race, we did the recon of this stage and I tried to put my mind in the right direction."
"I've been dreaming about this stage for a long time," Nys said. "Yesterday I was struggling a lot and today as well. I was not feeling good on the bike."
Bettiol took the overall lead from Belgian Yves Lampaert of Soudal-Quick Step, who was dropped in the final climb. The Italian is six seconds ahead of three riders,
The race starts climbing on Wednesday at the end of a stage that skirts the mountains for most of its 170.9 kilometres before finishing with a slog up the Gotthard Pass.
It will provide an opportunity for the overall classification favourites to make a move.
Colombian Nairo Quintana of Movistar and German Emanuel Buchmann of Bora Hansgrohe suffered fractures in a mass crash at the end of the second stage on Monday and did not start on Tuesday morning.
Quintana suffered a broken right hand and Buchmann a fractured collarbone and hip. - AFP