MORRO BAY, Calif. (May 16, 2017) – BORA-hansgrohe’s two-time defending World Champion Peter Sagan (SVK) charged from behind and overtook a group sprint finish to conclude the third day of racing at the 2017 Amgen Tour of California.

As the peloton twisted toward the quaint downtown of Morro Bay, teams strung out across the curving roads looking to position their sprinters to pounce in the final meters. Lead-out trains from Team KATUSHA ALPECIN, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team and BMC Racing Team dominated the road. In the final stretch, Sagan, who won the Amgen Tour of California by seconds in 2015 (SVK), began freelancing his way up through the peloton. With just seconds left to ride, Sagan charged the leaders from a few positions back, overtaking the field for a decisive stage victory, increasing his record of 16 stage wins. Sagan also picked up the Visit California Sprint Jersey today, which he’s taken home six times in this competition.

“It’s been a very good (Amgen) Tour of California (for our team). We won yesterday, we won today and we still have the yellow jersey. My brother was working a lot today in the front, and was chasing the breakaway all day….My teammates helped to get me in the right position for the last run, and I have to thank them very much for that,” said “King of California” Sagan.

On the longest of this year’s seven stages, five riders made a break at the start of the race in Pismo Beach and built the gap to more than 5.5 minutes over the peloton: Rally Cycling’s race veteran Danny Pate (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Team Novo Nordisk’s David Lozano (ESP), and three young riders age 23 or less including UAE Team Emirates’ Federico Zurlo (ITA) and Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis’ teammates Sean Bennett (El Cerrito, Calif.) and

Ben Wolfe (Old Lyme, Conn.). The gap was steadily closing as the riders approached the second Sprint point of the day in downtown San Luis Obispo.

This is Wolfe’s second day this week riding in a long breakaway, where he has spent about 65 percent of the race so far. Wolfe attacked the leader group with 11.5 miles left to race, growing his solo lead to 45 seconds, while the others were swept up into the peloton with about eight miles left to ride. Although Wolfe was caught about three miles later, he earned the Breakaway from Cancer^® / Breakaway from Heart Disease^TM Most Courageous Rider Jersey, which he won under similar conditions during the first day of racing in Sacramento.

Today’s result left the overall leader board in tact, with Sagan’s teammate Rafal Majka (POL), the Tour de France’s defending King of the Mountains, maintaining his lead over Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s George Bennett (NZL) (+.02) and Team Sky’s Ian Boswell (Bend, Oregon) (+.14).

United Healthcare Pro Cycling Team’s 26-year old Columbian rider Daniel Jaramillo retains the Lexus King of the Mountain Jersey he won yesterday, and Team Dimension Data’s Lachlan Morton (AUS) remains in the TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey.

Tomorrow’s Stage 4 presented by Visit California will take the cyclists 99.1 miles from the coastline of Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita, which will host its 13^th stage. The 2017 Amgen Tour of California will conclude Saturday in Pasadena.

Stage 3 Podium

1. Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (GER)
2. Rick Zabel (GER), Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (SUI)
3. Simone Consonni (ITA), UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

Stage 3 Jersey Winners

• Amgen Race Leader Jersey – Rafal Majka (POL), BORA-hansgrohe (GER)
• Men’s Lexus King of the Mountain (KOM) Jersey – Daniel Jaramillo (COL), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)
• Breakaway from Cancer^® / Breakaway from Heart Disease^TM Most Courageous Rider Jersey – Ben Wolfe (USA), Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis (USA)
• Visit California Sprint Jersey – Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (GER)
• TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey – Lachlan Morton (AUS), Team Dimension Data (RUS)

Breakaway from Cancer® / Breakaway from Heart Disease™
Breakaway from Cancer®, created by Amgen in 2005, is a national initiative to raise awareness of important resources available to people affected by cancer – from prevention to survivorship. The four independent, nonprofit partner organizations that collaborate on the Breakaway from Cancer® initiative – Prevent Cancer Foundation, Cancer Support Community, Patient Advocate Foundation and National Coalition for Survivorship – offer a broad range of services complementing those provided by a patient’s team of healthcare professionals.

As part of Amgen’s effort to honor and celebrate cancer survivors and to raise awareness of its Breakaway from Cancer® initiative, a Breakaway Mile walk took place this morning in Modesto before the official race start. Approximately 200 community members walked along the race course to honor the millions of cancer survivors worldwide.

For more information about Breakaway from Cancer, visit breakawayfromcancer.com.

About the Amgen Tour of California
The Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race created and presented by AEG that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course that traverses hundreds of miles of California’s iconic highways, byways and coastlines each spring. The teams chosen to participate have included Olympic medalists, Tour de France contenders and World Champions.

The first-ever U.S. UCI WorldTour course will cover more than 575 miles through 12 Host Cities May 14-20, including Sacramento, Modesto, San Jose, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Ontario, Mt. Baldy, Big Bear Lake, Mountain High and Pasadena.

The Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease^TM Women’s Race empowered with SRAM May 11-14 covered more than 250 miles through South Lake Tahoe, Elk Grove and Sacramento. More information is available at amgentourofcalifornia.com.

About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.

Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people’s lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world’s leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.

For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen.

About AEG
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, AEG is the world’s leading sports venue and live entertainment company. With offices on five continents, AEG operates in the following business segments: AEG Facilities, which is affiliated with or owns, manages or consults with more than 120 preeminent arenas, stadiums, theaters, clubs and convention centers around the world including The O2 Arena, the Sprint Center and the Mercedes-Benz Arenas; AEG Presents, which is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performances, including producing and promoting global and regional concert tours, music and special events and world-renowned festivals; AEG Real Estate, which develops world-class venues, as well as major sports and entertainment districts like STAPLES Center and L.A. LIVE; AEG Sports, which is the world’s largest operator of sports franchises and high-profile sporting events; and AEG Global Partnerships, which oversees worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships including naming rights, premium seating and other strategic partnerships. Through its worldwide network of venues, portfolio of powerful sports and music brands and its integrated entertainment districts, AEG entertains more than 100 million guests annually. More information about AEG can be found at www.aegworldwide.com.