The Slovakian had too much power for his rivals at the conclusion of the 222 kilometre course, which began in Bex.

A sprint finish had been threatened earlier in the day when a six rider group broke clear of the peloton.

The move included Kazakhstan’s Arman Kamyshev, the United States’ Ben King and Belgium’s Jelle Wallays, along with New Zealand’s Sam Bewley, Lars Petter Nordhaug of Norway and The Netherlands’ Jesper Asselman.

They established an advantage of over six minutes to the peloton as they reached the key climb of the day, the Simplonpass.

The peloton continued to give chase but a crash on the descent saw Colombia’s defending champion Miguel Ángel López pull out through injury.

A strong effort from the sprinters’ teams saw the gap fall as the finish line approached, with the breakaway eventually getting caught in the closing six kilometres.

Sagan emerged as the clear winner of the sprint, the world champion having time to celebrate as he crossed the line in a time of 5 hours 15min 50sec.

Switzerland’s Michael Albasini and Italy’s Matteo Trentin completed the top three, with the leading group all receiving the same time as the winner.

Having finished safely in the group, Italy’s Damiano Caruso retains the overall race lead.

He is 16 seconds clear of Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk in second position.

Italy’s Domenico Pozzovivo is 25 seconds behind the leader in third.

The International Cycling Union WorldTour race is due to continue tomorrow with a 116km stage from Locarno to La Punt