Moreno Hofland of LottoNL-Jumbo has taken victory on the third stage of Ster ZLM Toer.
Hofland missed out on victory on stage two by inches but spent most of the day trying to catch a front group which included British rider Scott Thwaites of Bora Argon 18, who were mopping up the points for the climbs and sprints.
Thwaites' group which included Jochem Hoekstra (Cyclingteam Jo Piels), Cees Bol (Rabobank Development Team), Thomas Degand (IAM Cycling) and Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty – Groupe Goubert). had been 7.05 ahead but by the time, Thwaites took the sprint with twenty five kilometres left, the gap had dropped to just over ten seconds.
Thwaites tried to go solo but was caught and as they took on the La Gillepe climb, Nicolas Maes and Rob Ruijgh were in front with a fifteen second lead.
The peloton closed in and passed them to set up a sprint which was won by Moreno Hofland ahead of Yves Lampaert (Etixx-QuickStep) and Zico Waeytens (Giant-Alpecin).
German champion Andre Greipel finished tenth and keeps the lead in the overall standings, going into the final 183 kilometre stage which starts in Eindhoven and finishes in Boxtel. .