Damiano Cunego took the overall lead in the Tour of Switzerland on Monday, though the Italian was beaten in a sprint for the Stage 3 victory by Peter Sagan of Slovakia.

Sagan raced clear near the line to clock 3 hours, 9 minutes, 47 seconds over the mountainous 107.6-kilometer (66.9 miles) route from Brig to Grindelwald. Cunego was second in the same time, while Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark trailed Sagan by 21 seconds in third place.

Cunego took a 54-second lead in the overall standings ahead of Juan Mauricio Soler of Colombia, who began a gray, misty day with the yellow jersey.

Soler placed ninth Monday in a group that lost more than one minute to the Italian leader.

Bauke Mollema of the Netherlands finished alongside Soler to retain third place overall, trailing Cunego by 1:16.

Lampre team leader Cunego made his move near the top of the steep Scheidegg pass 10 kilometers from the finish.

But the 21-year-old Sagan, leader of the Liquigas-Cannondale team, caught Cunego on the descent and made his decisive move with 100 meters to go.

After two days in the mountains, Tuesday's 198.4-kilometer (123.3 miles) fourth stage from Grindelwald to Huttwil favors sprinters.

The nine-day event is the last major warmup for the Tour de France 2011 which begins on July 2.