The Prague Post - Narvaez takes Swiss Tour third stage after 100km breakaway

Narvaez and Belgian Xandro Meurisse had gone clear with around 110km left of the 157km stage which started and finished in Bad Ragaz.

"It was a nice day to ride on the bike here on these beautiful roads," said Narvaez.

"We will enjoy today. I think I did a really hard ride."

With a maximum lead of more than four minutes, they held on, even managing to play a bit of cat-and-mouse, before Narvaez launched his sprint with 150m left and easily beat Meurisse.

It was a finish missed by television viewers after the signal went down with 2.5km left due to thunder and lightning.

Dane Magnus Cort won the sprint in the peloton to finish third around 50m back, with cobbled classics specialist Mathieu van der Poel coming fifth.

Narvaez's UAE Team Emirates leader Tadej Pogacar maintained his overall lead with a gap of 2min 50sec to the stage winner's compatriot Richard Carapaz.

Italian Andrea Bagioli remains third overall at 3:07.

Narvaez has been on fine form this season and won three stages at last month's Giro d'Italia.

Meurisse's near miss extended a five-year-long wait for a victory -- his last being in October 2021 at the Giro del Veneto.

"This guy is so aero that I can't even recover on the wheel," said Meurisse about the sprint finish.

"He is so fast, he showed already in the Giro his shape."

After a rapid start to the stage as the battle to get into the breakaway raged on the slopes of the first climb of the day, Narvaez and Meurisse eventually went clear, with 110km left to ride.

Their gap over the peloton ballooned out to more than four minutes before the sprinters' teams started to take an interest in hunting them down, which was hampered by bouts of heavy rain.

But it was not until the final 30km, with the gap now under three minutes, that the chase really kicked into gear.

With 10km to ride, there was still one minute between the breakaway and the peloton, and the catch remained in the balance.

But the chase became disjointed and with 5km left, it was clear that the leading duo would make it.

"You always have to believe -- that's cycling," said Meurisse.

"If you don't believe in it, it is better that you (go) back to the bunch immediately.

"We didn't talk to each other, we just went full (gas) to the finish line."

Saturday's fourth stage is a 23.8km-long time-trial around Aarburg, in which Pogacar will likely extend his overall lead.

E.Cerny--TPP