Cycling: Nuits-St Georges is famous for its Burgundy wines which age well but youth triumphed again in the third stage of Paris-Nice won by Matthew Goss today.
The 24-year-old Australian surged in a crash-ridden finale to go one better than the previous stage, when he finished second behind New Zealand's Greg Henderson.
Riders from Down Under are flourishing in the Race to the Sun with another Australian, Heinrich Haussler, second in the same time ahead of Russia's Denis Galimzyanov, third for the second day in a row.
Victory at the end of a long ride of five hours and 16 minutes enabled Goss, who won a Giro stage and the Grand Prix de Plouay last year, to take the yellow jersey from Belgian Thomas de Gendt.
De Gendt slipped to second in the overall standings, two seconds behind the HTC-Highroad sprinter. Ireland’s Nicolas Roche is 16 seconds off the lead in the general classification.
"It's terrific. Yesterday it was close, today I had a good run. It was unfortunate that there was a fall but to me it was perfect. To get a stage for the team was the number one goal. The jersey is a bonus," said Goss.
The finish was marred by a spectacular pile-up involving half a dozen riders, including pre-race favourite Peter Sagan who crossed the line on foot. Belgian Nikolas Maes was seriously hurt and was sent to hospital for checks.
"There were tight corners in the finale and I was a little far back in the chicane but in the end I had a good run. The crash disrupted the sprint a little bit but it was alright for me," Goss told reporters.