MORRO BAY, Calif. — World champion Peter Sagan freelanced through the peloton and outsprinted Rick Zabel and Simone Consonni on the uphill finish to win the third stage of the Tour of California on Tuesday.

Bend’s Ian Boswell, of Team Sky, finished safely in the field to retain third place in the overall standings.

Sagan took advantage of a field dealing with two sweeping turns in the last couple of miles to win his 16th stage in North America’s premier race, extending his own record.

Sagan’s teammate on Bora-Hansgrohe, Rafal Majka, finished in the peloton to keep his overall race lead. The winner of Stage 2, Majka has two seconds on George Bennett and 14 seconds on Boswell, while top overall contenders Brent Bookwalter and Andrew Talansky are 48 seconds adrift.

Tuesday’s 115-mile stage took riders from Pismo Beach to Morro Bay. The fourth stage Wednesday takes riders 99 miles from Santa Barbara inland to Santa Clarita. The seven-stage race concludes Saturday in Pasadena.

— From wire reports