Tour of Switzerland - Quickstep's Alessandro Proni took victory in the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland and narrowly missed out on claiming the overall lead from Fabian Cancellara.

On the longest stage of the tour, running 229 kilometres from Brunnen to the Austrian town of Nauders, the 24-year-old Italian broke away from the field together with Spaniards Daniel Navarro Garcia and Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez shortly after the beginning of the stage.

The trio's advantage grew to over 11 minutes at one stage, though was soon eaten into by the quickening peloton.

With the gap closing, Proni decided to go it alone eight kilometres from the finish, and took victory by seven seconds over Xavier Florencio and Kim Kirchen, who finished second and third respectively in a chasing group.