Sagan comes from nowhere to clinch fourth stage of Paris-Nice

LIQUIGAS' Peter Sagan left it late to clinch victory in stage three of the Paris-Nice to move to within six seconds of the yellow jersey in the Race to the Sun.

The 19-year-old junior world mountain bike champion came from nowhere to catch a late breakaway group and stayed firm to edge out Joaquin Rodriguez of Team Katusha in a sprint finish.

Veteran Jens Voigt of Saxo Bank captured the yellow jersey usurping Rabobank's Lars Boom, who held a five-second lead over the German overnight.

After an early breakaway group was reeled in by the peleton with just under ten kilometres to go it was Ireland's Nicholas Roche who made the first move on the final climb.

He was joined by Rodriguez, Columbia-HTC's Tony Martin and two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Astana.

Roche was setting the pace with Rodriguez in hot pursuit but in the final kilometre, Sagan emerged from the peleton to romp to victory and outshine Liquigas team-mate Roman Kreuziger.

Sagan now sits second in the overall classification, six seconds behind Voigt while Kreuziger is at 14 seconds in third and Contador a further six seconds adrift.

Meanwhile, Linus Gerdemann has clinched victory in the opening stage of the 45th Tirreno-Adriatico.

The 27-year-old Milram rider finished the 148km stage from Livorno to Rosignano in three hours 36 minutes and 15 seconds to edge out Pablo Lastras, who was second in the same time.

Gerdemann finished seventh overall in last year's race but has already laid down an early marker.

Team ISD's Dmytro Grabovskyy rode ahead of the peloton for much of the stage but was reeled in by the chasing pack approximately ten kilometres from the finish line.

Great Britain's Mark Cavendish fell behind on a mild climb shortly before the finish.

The weeklong race is a warmup for the Milan-San Remo, the opening single-day classic of the cycling season on March 20, which was won by Cavendish last year.

The Tirreno-Adriatico continues on Thursday with the 165km second stage, which starts and finishes in Montecatini Terme.