Australia's Simon Gerrans took out a dramatic sprint finish in the third stage of the Tour Down Under in the South Australian town of Campbelltown on Thursday.

The Orica GreenEdge rider pipped fellow Australian Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) on the finish line of the 139-kilometre stage with a time of 3hr 37min 34sec.

The stage win for the 35-year-old Victorian came a day after he was caught up in a mass pile-up inside the final kilometre, just moments after easing into a perfect position.

The win means Gerrans wears the ochre leader's jersey on Friday's 138-kilometre fourth stage from Norwood to the coastal town of Victor Harbor.

Gerrans said the downhill finish "felt like we had to take our lives in our hands in the final".

"There was a big crash on the final. There was a big crash on the gorge, hairy moments on the decent of the Corkscrew (Road).

"I'm thrilled to have won the stage, but there was risk involved."

In third place was Canadian Michael Woods (Cannondale), followed by Wednesday's race leader Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) from Australia and Switzerland's Steve Morabito (FDJ). The top 10 all finished with the same time.

American rider Tyler Farrar (Dimension Data) completed the stage on a spectator's bike after a crash, organisers said.
Source :AFP