Jonathan Hivert from Direct-Energie wins the third stage of Paris-Nice

The Frenchman was part of late breakaway of three riders and had the best sprint at the finish line

The longest stage at 210 kilometres contained three category climbs that were sure to make it a difficult day for the Sprinters.

Jay Thomson (Dimension Data), Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) and Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Delko Marseille Provence) established a breakaway and created a lead of over 7 minutes on the peloton.

On the second climb of the Cote des Boulards, Grellier attacked and Thomson and Kasperkiewicz were reeled in by the chasing peloton with 40 kms ot go.

Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates' Alexander Kristoff struggled to keep up with the peloton.

With 35 kilometres to go, the peloton caught Grellier. During the ascent of the final climb of the Cote de Charbonnierers, Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) attacked and was joined by Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana).

Shortly afterwards a large group of 20 riders including Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie), Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal) bridged across.

There were several attacks but the only one to stick was Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) closely followed by Jonathan Hivert (Direct Energie) and Remy Di Gregorio (Delko Marseille Provence), who got an advantage of a minute over the chasing peloton.

Di Gregorio attacked with 2 kms but was reeled in by his breakaway companions. He tried again in the closing kilomtres, but it was Hivert who delivered the final sprint to take the stage victory.

Luis Leon Sanchez Sanchez was more focussed on gaining time on his rivals and took the lead in the General Classification at the expense of Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) who was dropped on the slopes of the Cote de Charbonnierers.

As was the case in 2017, stage four is a relatively short time trial, with an 18.4km test against the clock climbing for the first eight kilometres, before a fast second half to the finish in Saint-Étienne.

VIDEO: 2018 Paris Nice Stage 3 Highlights

2018 Paris Nice Stage 3 Top 10

1 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 5:22:49 
2 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:01 
3 Remy Di Gregorio (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM   
4 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:38 
5 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb   
6 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal   
7 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team   
8 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott   
9 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors   
10 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe

2018 Paris Nice GC after Stage 3

1 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 13:21:56 
2 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:28 
3 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:35 
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:38 
5 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:41 
6 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal   
7 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton-Scott   
8 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:43 
9 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe   
10 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida