Chris Sutton rounded off a dominant display from Team Sky by sprinting to victory on stage three of the Brixia Tour.

The Australian was catapulted into contention by his team-mates on the fourth and final lap of the day in Pisogne and kicked on powerfully to take the win ahead of Roberto Ferrari (De Rosa) and Miguel Ángel Rubiano (Meridiana).

The triumph was the 25-year-old's first since the Tour Down Under and was fully deserved after spending much of the campaign leading out the likes of Greg Henderson and Edvald Boasson Hagen.

And in a further boost for Team Sky, Morris Possoni also retained his third-placed position in the overall standings by finishing a large bunch just 12 seconds behind Sutton. The Italian remains 50 seconds adrift of blue jersey holder Domenico Pozzovivo.

We caught up with sports director Marcus Ljungqvist immediately after the stage and he explained the way things had panned out:

He said: "At first there were eight guys in the breakaway, and then it went down to seven for a while, and then finally one. Colnago controlled the pace of the race all day as they were looking after Pozzovivo. Lampre and Garmin also had a few guys up there as well so in the end, even though we'd have been prepared to, we didn't need to put anyone on the front ourselves and were able to preserve our energies instead. Those teams brought the escapees back easily, which was perfect for us.

"We'd always had it in mind to let CJ have a go today because he'd been feeling really good during the race and was well up for it. Pete [Kennaugh] was also supposed to be in there as well, but unfortunately he suffered a puncture with a couple of kilometres to go so Ian [Stannard] and [Chris] Froomey took them into the little climb which came about 1km from the line climb and then [Davide] Viga and [Ben] Swifty took turns to lead CJ out in the final stages.

"The whole team did a great job and worked really hard all day, so I'm very happy."

Sutton hails team performance

Ever modest, Sutton hailed his team-mates for guiding him into position late on and felt the victory was just reward for the efforts everyone at Team Sky has put in during the season so far.

He said: "I was nice to win again but the boys were incredible and I couldn't have done it without them. I'd put myself forward this morning for the sprint and they made me road captain, which meant I was dictating how we rode throughout the stage.

"On the second lap I cracked a wheel but Ian and Lars-Petter [Nordhaug] paced me back into the peloton really quickly, and then in the end all I had to do was finish off the sprint. All the boys raced so hard and made sure it was all lined out for me. I went from about 300m and thankfully no-one came around.

"I've been more than happy to do a job for Greg and Edvald in the past, but it was nice to get my chance to step up today and I felt I handled it well. It was nice to get another win.

"This result is for everyone that's worked so hard for us behind the scenes - the soigneurs, the mechanics, and everyone back in the UK. It was a well deserved, not just for me, but for the whole team."

Saturday's stage comprises a mountain-top finish on the Passo Maniva, and although Sutton is not expecting to be in contention there, he is hopeful of another strong showing on Sunday's flatter race finale.

He added: "Yes, I'll be back working for Morris [Possoni], Chris and John-Lee [Augustyn] tomorrow, making sure they are positioned as well as I was today for that final climb. I'm going to concentrate fully on that for now, but the last stage should end in another sprint so we'll hopefully target that for me as well and if it comes down to it I'll be happy to step up again."