Peter Sagan claimed a pure sprint win on stage 3 of Vuelta a España after a powerful acceleration into the final hundred meters. “I’m very happy for this victory – it’s good for the entire team”, says Sagan, who was delivered at the final sprint after an extended team effort managing to grab the win in front of Bouhanni and Degenkolb.

After an extended and resolute fight for stage wins at Tour de France, Peter Sagan came to the fore and conquered the day on the first stage suited for fast action towards the line in Málaga. Sagan triumphed after launching a well-timed sprint off the wheel of John Degenkolb and his lead-out.

“I’m very happy for this victory because I think it’s good for the entire team. This is a good start to the Vuelta a España. And finally I had a victory! I’m always trying to get the win and someday it has to come. And it did today, also thanks to my teammates, who were pulling all day and I’m very grateful for their effort. I’ve had many second places but you cannot always finish second. So today I finished first. That’s how cycling is, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. I was searching for a victory during the Tour and now it has come. I’m very consistent. I finish second, third, fourth or fifth. But I’ve been looking for this victory a long time. For the whole Tour de France. Finally it’s today," says Peter Sagan and adds about how the victory came about.

"I’m tired. But I feel good. I’m very happy for this victory. It’s good for the whole team to start the Vuelta like this. I’m very happy to start like this after the rest I had after the Tour de France. Finally one victory! I always try to be in the front. I knew that it would work one day. I want to thank the team for the work they did, especially in the climb. "

“My team spent a lot of energy, mostly in the last 20km, where we had headwind and we wanted to catch the breakaway. Bennati crashed in the descent so he couldn’t be there with me in the final kilometers. Today was also a day for Degenkolb and Bouhanni but their teams didn’t work at the front before the last three kilometers and I decided to take Degenkolb’s wheel, which was the right decision”.

Peter Sagan is at the Vuelta with dual ambitions in the shape of a quest for stage wins and building shape towards the World Championships in late September.

“I’m here at the Vuelta to do the best for my team and to get race kilometers into the legs before the World Championships. It’s good to know already that I have some speed in the legs and then we’ll see how it goes. The Vuelta is very hard but this is a good start for me and my teammates. We’ll see in the next few days. Madrid is far away from here. I want to see how my preparation is going because I’m looking forward for the worlds”, tells Peter Sagan.

"I don’t know if it works like in the Tour de France. I have to see personally," he added when asked about his chance to win the points jersey.

Tristan Hoffman, Tinkoff-Saxo sports director, explains that the pre-race plans before the 158km stage 3 from Mijas to Málaga had focused on delivering Sagan at the final sprint in a favorable position.

"We had a meeting this morning and everything worked out according to our plan. We thought that Peter was our best option to take the stage, so we wouldn't go into the breakaway and instead work for him. We had the young guys that worked in the flat parts and for the finale we should have had Bennati, Bodnar and Poljanski. Unfortunately, Bennati had a crash and wasn't able to do his job. Fortunately, he didn't suffer any serious injuries and he will be able to carry on tomorrow".

"Peter managed to be in a good position and did a fantastic sprint. Bouhanni and Degenkolb came next to him, on both sides. He had to pull for a long time but still managed to stay in the front and finish ahead of them. After the opening team time-trial and our defeat by a few hundredths of a second, the relief is even bigger today. This victory is fantastic for the team and for him. Tomorrow, the stage has a very hard finale but I think that Peter is in very good form and can have a good finish tomorrow and the day after", finishes Tristan Hoffman.