Rivera's explosive sprint after a strong lead-out from her team bested Arlennis Sierra (Astana) and Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle High5).
"Today was all on the girls," Rivera said. "It's a hard sport and we're here with the worlds best, I couldn't have done it without them."
Special win today on home soil for Californian @CorynRivera from @TeamSunweb Here at stage 3 of the @AmgenTOC #AMGENTOCWOMEN #uciwwt pic.twitter.com/s6VDnerwGO — Voxwomen (@Voxwomen) May 13, 2017
"We tried a few times to break up the field and to drop some other riders. Our move worked but things came back together so next it was time for us to focus on the lead out train.
"We had planned the sprint in detail and the girls executed the plan perfectly. One of my first wins was in Sacramento when I was 18, so it's great to be back on the top step here years later."
In a stage blown apart at times by head and cross winds over the 118 kilometres from Elk Grove to Sacramento, it was somewhat a surprise it came back all together for the bunch finish.
But the work of UHC Pro Cycling for Katie Hall almost guaranteed this result, especially when the race leader got into difficulty.
"At one point, I got caught behind in one of the second groups," Hall said. "But my team is so strong and takes good care of me, they just paced me up to the front group.
"Normally I don't really like flat stages like this but it was so windy it made it challenging and fun!"
Boels-Dolmans successfully set-up Van Der Breggen for the only intermediate sprint to gain two seconds, and lies one excruciating second from Hall.
"I'm not a sprinter, so I didn't love this stage," Van Der Breggen said. "The team worked hard to set me up for the sprints. I'm happy I could take back two seconds."
Before the intermediate sprint at kilometre 88, Boels-Dolmans tried to split the race with echelons.
"It wasn't as windy as we hoped," Van Der Breggen said. "In the most windy sections before the sprint, we worked with Sunweb and we split the peloton but both times, Katie and her teammates made the split, and the group was too big.
"We decided to save our energy for the seconds."
Mandy Heintz (Visit Dallas DNA) slipped away from the bunch after the intermediate sprint and gained a maximum lead of 40 seconds but she was scooped up by the peloton four kilometres from the finish.
Katie Hall from @UHCprocycling retains the yellow jersey going into the finale stage in Sacramento tomorrow! #AMGENTOCWOMEN #uciwwt pic.twitter.com/Pe45UWY8On — Voxwomen (@Voxwomen) May 13, 2017
