The Irish cyclist Nicolas Roche won the 162-kilometre third stage of the Tour of Beijing as Germany's Tony Martin held on to the overall lead.
Roche finished ahead of compatriot Philip Deignan, who had been one of his breakaway companions along with Britain's Chris Froome, the recent runner-up in the Tour of Spain.
The main peloton, including HTC-Highroad's Martin, went over the finish line just a second behind.
Roche's victory was a welcome one for his AG2R team, which is on a desperate quest for World Tour points in a bid to secure a top-level licence for next season.
Martin will take a 17 second overall lead over David Millar (Garmin) into today's fourth and penultimate stage, a 189.5 km ride from Yanqing to Shunyi.
