Spain's Alejandro Valverde won the 194-kilometre third stage of the Paris-Nice race as England's Bradley Wiggins kept the leader's yellow jersey.
Ireland's Nicolas Roche finished among the main peloton in 48th place, in the same time as Valverde (4:36:19), but never really challenged for stage honours.
Valverde, 31 and who is fresh from winning the Tour of Andalusia, edged out Australia's Simon Gerrans and Gianni Meersman from Belgium in a final sprint after a day's racing in bracing temperatures.
The Movistar rider's Spanish compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez took fourth place ahead of Xavier Florencio.
A three-man break-away comprising Denmark's Michael Morkov, Dutch rider Roy Curvers and France's Jimmy Engoulvent opened up the race from the first kilometre.
The trio led the chasing pack by nearly five minutes and were only caught in the final stages, with Engoulvent holding out until six kilometres from the finish.
Uzbekistan's Sergey Lagutin then attacked with four kilometres to go but was caught in sight of the final kilometre marker, as Valverde's team controlled the pursuit.
Valverde, back in the peloton after serving a two-year doping ban, clawed back 10 seconds on Wiggins through bonus points and is now 20 seconds behind the Wiggins in the overall classification.
Roche remains 3:12 off the pace, but moved up the standings to 33rd overall.
