Tony Martin again put in a splendid climbing performance to defend his leader's jersey in the uphill finish on stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse. Despite looking strong on the climbs, the time trial world champion refuses to consider himself as a potential overall winner and says that he will continue with a day-by-day approach.

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team put the entire team on the front to keep race leader Tony Martin well protected in the 202.9km Tour de Suisse Stage 3 on Monday, and Martin race smart in the final kilometers in order to keep himself in yellow.

Martin — who was guided by Matteo Trentin to the front going into the final climb toward the finish — aggressively moved to the front before pulling off to allow other teams to fight for the sprint in the final 400 meters. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) beat Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE) to the line as the two battled it out around the final turn just before the finish. Sergio Henao (Team Sky) was 3rd. Martin finished 14th after putting himself into good position before the sprint chaos.

The battle for position was not easy, as the original breakaway was brought back early before a second breakaway was established. The last rider of the second breakaway was caught with less than 8km to go.

Martin takes the GC lead into the 160.4km Stage 4 on Tuesday. The 4th and 5th stages are two of the best possibilities for the bunch sprint.

"The stage was not easy," he told Cyclismactu. "I'm much more exhausted today than after yesterday's stage despite its three mountains. Initially I felt that my rivalswere pretty tired by yesterday's stage. But soon after we started climbing to climb at full gas.

"With the first breakaway, Martin Kohler and Steven Kruiswijk, it was easy to manage. But the second with Danilo Wyss and Nino Schurter...it was not the same. 

"The team did a great job. But yes, in the end, I found myself alone on the front to avoid attacks. So I thought I'd try to get the stage win. But it was too risky. The day was not easy and I was afraid that by doing this, I could lose stupid time if I got caught again. I preferred to play it safe.

"I'll take it day by day. My next goal is of course the time trial on Friday. After that it will be harder for me with two summit finishes in Verbier and Saas Fee.  "