Peter Sagan has taken out the third stage of the Tour de France, holding off a late charge from Australia's Michael Matthews.
As the riders made their way up the ascent to the finish line, fellow Australian Richie Porte attacked at the beginning of the final kilometre but ultimately could not hold off the sprinters including Sagan.
On the final short, sharp climb to the finish in Longwy, Sagan was cruising until one of his feet slipped from its pedal but the Slovak rider quickly recovered and held off Matthews and Dan Martin.
The win is Sagan's eighth individual stage win on the tour and moved him to within 16 points of the green jersey, currently held by German rider Marcel Kittel.
Geraint Thomas, who finished the stage in eighth, with teammate and reigning winner Chris Froome immediately behind him, kept the leader's yellow jersey, with Froome and Matthews 12 seconds behind.
While Froome and Thomas snuck through the pack, with just 500m to go it almost appeared Porte would claim an unlikely stage win.
The Australian Team BMC star powered away from the pack in the final climb up the Nuns' Hill in the former steel town but Sagan was watching closely and reeled him in.
Porte remains 47 seconds adrift of Thomas and 35 seconds behind chief rival Froome and was left to lament attacking slightly earlier than he wanted, leaving an open-mouthed, slightly out of breath Porte a sitting duck for sprint star Sagan.
"The guys put me in a fantastic position," Porte said.
"I think when I had 500 metres to go I knew I was a bit far out and it was a shame I didn't quite finish it off.
"The stage win was probably out of the question for me once Sagan came under my wheel."
Sagan said he'd take the win given the difficulties he faced in the final sprint ans heaped praised on Matthews for getting so close to him on the line.
"It was a bit weird, Richie went strong with 600-700m left," Sagan said.
"When I caught him, I looked where we were and sat up as I wanted to wait a little.
"I was also surprised that Matthews was coming back so strong."
Stage four of the Tour de France will begin in Mondorf-le-Baines in Luxembourg and finish in Vittel, France after 207.5 kilometres and one category four climb.
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