Kasper Asgreen claimed victory on the third and penultimate stage of the Tour of Germany in Eisenach on Saturday as Jasper Stuyven grabbed the overall lead.
Asgreen, who won the Tour of California in May, edged out Stuyven after the pair had broken clear near the end of the 189km ride from Goettingen.
The Deceuninck-Quick-Step man and Stuyven finished 17 seconds ahead of a group of 15 riders.
Julian Alaphilippe led for long periods on Saturday with Mads Pedersen before the duo were caught 25km from the finish.
Stuyven now leads Sonny Colbrelli by 13 seconds in the overall standings and now looks set to take victory, ahead of bigger names including former Tour de France champions Geraint Thomas and Vincenzo Nibali.
“We protected Jasper as much as we could on the penultimate climb and then he was in the 25-rider group to get in with Asgreen,” said Stuyven’s teammate Julien Bernard. “For tomorrow, it’s going to be a big fight.”
Sunday’s final stage keeps the peloton in the Thuringian forest with an undulating course to Erfurt.
Deutschland Tour 2019 – stage 3 results (Göttingen – Eisenach):
| 1 | Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 4:27:53 |
| 2 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 3 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrian-Merida) | +17” |
| 4 | Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 5 | Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 6 | Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 7 | Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 8 | Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 9 | Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 10 | Jhonatan Narvaez (Team Ineos) | ,, |
Deutschland Tour 2019 – general classification after stage 3:
| 1 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | 12:38:21 |
| 2 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrian-Merida) | +13” |
| 3 | Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) | +18” |
| 4 | Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +19” |
| 5 | Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) | +20” |
| 6 | Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 7 | Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) | +21” |
| 8 | Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) | +22” |
| 9 | Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) | +23” |
| 10 | Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
