Pingtung City, Taiwan - John Murphy of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis is not known for his climbing prowess, but he is known as a tireless worker. He used that work ethic - and the form he built during the Amgen Tour of California - to get over the first major climbs of the 2008 Tour de Taiwan and retain his yellow leader's jersey after today's 117 km third stage.

Murphy finished 7th on the stage, three seconds behind stage winner Peter McDonald (Drapac Porsche), who moved up to second overall on GC, five seconds behind Murphy.

"The guys rode really well again today," noted team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo. "There were a lot of cross-winds that did some damage to the peloton. We tried to stay attentive and police the front of the pack."

The most dangerous move of the day, which started as a three-man break but grew to six with 40 km remaining in the stage, achieved a gap of three minutes at one point.

"We put Roman (Kilun) and Kyle (Gritters) on the front and they did a lot of work to bring it back, particularly Kyle," Tamayo said.

By the time the peloton reached the first of two climbs in the final 20 km of the stage, the gap was down to 0:45, and the break was absorbed going over the top of the 1.5 km climb.

There were a few late attacks, including a strong one put in by a rider from the Merida team, who opened a gap of 0:20 with just 3 km to go, but Kilun went to the front and nailed it back.

"Murphy really showed his form by hitting the uphill sprint to the line at the front with 700 meters to go and finishing strong," Tamayo said.

Murphy won the second intermediate sprint on the road today to earn an additional five points to solidify his lead in the points competition. The sprint win was also good for a three-second time bonus.