Giro d’Italia stage 3 Live – The sprinters’ first dance

Movistar, Bahrain-Victorious and Polti Kometa do seem to be faltering in their chase efforts. The advantage to the group of sprinters out in front has stabilised to around 30 seconds with the second group containing Uijtdebroeks and Lutsenko now at one minute from the leaders.

Pogačar has been sitting calmly in the pink jersey towards the front of the peloton. As long as he stays safe he’ll be happy especially with how much the action has kicked off. 

The chase is still on for Movistar and Polti with just 30 seconds separating them from the breakaway. Gaps are only getting bigger behind now with an infernal pace still being set.

Uijtdebroeks is down in one of the splits in the white jersey! Things should probably come back together but it is absolutely full gas for the moment. 

60KM TO GO

The aggressive chase in the peloton has strung out the big group. Movistar and Polti are doing some serious damage to try and bring the leading group back in. Splits are forming as riders begin to struggle. 

Here’s a look back at the first attackers of the day Calmejane and Ballerini. They probably regret not keeping up their efforts as they could have got ahead of this sprinters break and been in it once it went after the intermediate sprint. 

Movistar and Polti Kometa are keeping up their efforts and are seeing some change in the break’s advantage. The gap is now back down under the minute mark on a small uphill section of racing. 

Fiorelli finally gets his bike change after the sprint point and a great swap at a good moment has seen him almost instantly make it to the back of the leading group. 

Jonathan Milan powers to take the Intergiro point into Montegrosso d’Asti which also has points on offer for the ciclamino jersey. He didn’t have any issues without a leadout and easily moved ahead of Merlier and Groves behind him to take the maximum haul.

70KM TO GO

Van Poppel, Ewan and Milan are all alone in the front group so likely won’t want this group to make it to the end as they will be without their leadouts to help position them.

Movistar are fully committed to chasing this down as are Polti Kometa with the gap now coming down gradually. Fascinating developments in the peloton. 

Here’s one of the favourites for the day Olav Kooij. He has Visma teammate Christophe Laporte with him in the front group. The gap to the 24-man break is 1:22.

This accidental sprinter’s breakaway has kicked the stage into life with Polti Kometa, Bahrain Victorious and Movistar all putting a rider towards the front of the peloton to try and bring things back together. 

80KM TO GO

Fiorelli’s had a mechanical issue with his back wheel wobbling all over the place. He’s happy to continue riding with it as the Shimano neutral service car is no use for his Campagnolo components.

With around 25 riders peeling away in the front group, UAE have placed a rider at the front of the peloton to keep up the tempo. The leader’s have a 1:23 advantage and are swapping turns with Alpecin, Intermarché, QuickStep, Visma, Tudor and Bardiani represented by multiple riders. 

The peloton is calming behind but there is a large group of sprinters and leadout riders off the front. Fiorelli isn’t happy with the composition and goes off the front alone again. 

Fiorelli attacks in the ciclamino jersey. Splits had been forming as the sprinters teams ramped up towards the intermediate sprint point and the Italian has taken his opportunity to try and break up the racing. 

Milan is freelancing in his Lidl-Trek jersey so he is up for defending his ciclamino jersey that he won last season. Milan takes the IS first with Kooij in second and Merlier in third – perhaps a sign of things to come in today’s finale.

Alpecin have started drilling it on the front so Groves is clearly fancying the intermediate sprint as he has been for the first two stages. Intermarché are also showing themselves for Girmay with Tudor the third team active in the peloton for Dainese’s efforts. 

90KM TO GO

A look at the peloton navigating some of the lovely narrow roads on stage 3 of this year’s Giro.

We’re closing in on the first intermediate sprint point of the day into Masio (Abbazia). It should be a good chance to see some of the fast men’s form and who is saving themselves just for the finale.

There was a big slowing of the pace at the back of the peloton as they exited a roundabout but no one seems to have hit the deck thankfully. 

Ballerini has been caught after trying his absolute hardest to do so. Things have calmed down again in the peloton.

100KM TO GO

Think this look from Davide Cimolai and Ruben Fernandez sums up today’s stage. Plenty of time in the bunch for a chat, a laugh and even a smile for the cameras.

With Calmejane’s job done for the day, Ballerini has been left out in front with a 1:06 gap but he isn’t riding with any intention of staying away. 

Here’s a look back and Calmejane and Ballerini cresting the only categorised climb of the day. A coupe spots of rain have been spotted on the cameras the racing calms down again. Time for a nature break for most. 

There are splits in the peloton as Lidl-Trek hit the front with Jasper Stuyven just after the narrowing in the road following the KOM. Time for everyone to wake up with 104km to go.

They had a chat before and Calmejane takes the maximum points with Ballerini close behind. The duo’s lead does show quite a narrow road through Lu so they’ll have to be careful as they funnel into the KOM point. 

110KM TO GO

Calmejane must be thinking of the long term and after an incredibly easy start,  it isn’t much exertion for three KOM points which could be useful later on in the race. He led the classification after stage 1 so could be targeting it throughout this year’s Giro.

Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan) has gone with the Frenchman off the front. The one climb of the day will be to Lu (3.4km at 3.8%) which offers a maximum of three KOM points.

Signs of movement in the peloton. First attacks are starting from Intermarché with the one categorised climb of the day approaching. Lilian Calmejane is the most active. 

120KM TO GO

Intermarché are keeping their spot at the front of the peloton but these last few kilometres have just been a chance for the riders to get a feed in and take on some food ahead of the final 100 kilometres.

A look at the peloton on today’s third stage.

130KM TO GO

Intermarché Wanty and Alpecin-Deceuninck are the teams technically on the front of the peloton but without anything to chase there is no need to up the pace. 

With the first chance of a sprint incoming, make sure you catch up with what 12-time Giro stage winner Robbie McEwen had to say to Cycling News about the sprint field.

‘Giro d’Italia sprints are going to be incredible’- Robbie McEwen rates the sprint contenders

Thumbs up and a wave from Fabio Jakobsen to the camera. He said to media this morning that the stage will be his to go for as plan A but if he isn’t feeling good then Tobias Lund Andresen will have the same freedom he had at the Tour of Turkey where he scored three stage wins. 

140KM TO GO

Another 10 kilometres goes by without any change in the peloton. It is looking like there is no chance of a break today unless someone makes a move on one of the very few rises.

Here’s what one of the favourites for the day, Tim Merlier, had to say about today’s potential sprint:

“It will be a hard final, it will make it really hectic. Some riders will be on the limit. It is a strange finish in the end but we will see what happens,” he told CyclingProNet.

“The seasons started really well so I want another one today.”

He’ll have a strong side dedicated to helping him reach the finish today with Bert Van Lerberghe and Luke Lamperti as two of his last men in the train. Julian Alaphilippe could also be involved to ride the punchy climb near the finish on the front for Merlier.

150KM TO GO

No change in the peloton for now.

Pogačar and Geraint Thomas are taking the chance to have a chat after the GC action exploded yesterday. It won’t be a day for either of them today with a calm sprint stage on the menu. They’ll be eyeing the final 3km and a safe run into Fossano

Big smile on the face of Cian Uijtdebroeks to the camera as the young Visma man started his first day in white at the Giro. He moved into the lead of the young rider’s classification with a top ride yesterday up to Oropa.

Cian Uijtdebroeks hits ground running in Giro d’Italia debut with youth classification lead

Here’s that chat between Fiorelli and Pogačar with the Italian wondering whether the Slovenian had his colours mixed up when he put on his shorts this morning. The ciclamino bottom half has been causing quite a stir on social media. 

160KM TO GO

Very chilled out pace for everyone and no one fancying disrupting off the front. Lots of chats going on at the back of the peloton.

Full status quo on the peloton for now with everyone happy for a calm start after two full gas days of racing in the hills and mountains. All eyes will be on the finale.

A look at the jersey wearers on stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia: Cian Uijtdebroeks in white, Pogačar in pink, Fiorelli in ciclamino and Dani Martínez who is looking after the blue KOM jersey for the Slovenian race leader. Andrea Piccolo (EF Education EasyPost) was also on the front row after his efforts in the break yesterday. 

166KM TO GO

Stage 3 is officially underway at this year’s Giro. Flag dropped by race director Stefano Allocchio and the jacket on his back shows just how the weather could play a part in today’s stage. No attacks as of yet from the flag drop as there have been for the past two days.  

Davide Ballerini is enjoying a chilled start to the day and tucking into some haribos out of the lead race car. He’ll either be on duty for his own ambitions or Max Kanter at the finish today. 

Bubbling underneath the pure sprinters is a whole host of fast men who are more than punchy enough to survive those late steep pinches in the road:
– Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ)
– Biniam Girmay (Intermarché Wanty)
– Matteo Trentin (Tudor)
– Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers)
– Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike)
– Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Unofficial Start

Stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia is underway. The riders have set off from Novara to the cheers of big crowds. We’ll have six kilometres to get through until we get to kilometre 0.

Pogačar’s shorts are looking rather ciclamino, however, and he’s shared a friendly chat with the maglia ciclamino wearer Filippo Fiorelli on the start line. If he is to hold his lead, expect to see him fully in pink as the days go on.

Here he is then. Race leader Tadej Pogačar gears up for the start of stage 3 in the maglia rosa. 

Its a big day for Olav Kooij and Visma-Lease a Bike as the Dutchman eyes his first opportunity to take a Grand Tour stage win on debut. Visma set stage wins as their main objective for this year’s Giro and sprinter Kooij will be the focus with a strong leadout train of Edoardo Affini, Tim van Dijke and Christophe Laporte.

Pogačar looks resplendent in the pink jersey, taking time to sign autographs ahead of signing on. It should be a day of staying safe in the peloton with the race leader not getting carried away despite taking a big lead yesterday.

‘I was riding on the front wheel with zero pressure’ – Pogačar brushes off crash but the Giro is far from over

Here’s what Caleb Ewan had to say ahead of the stage:

“Now I’ve had a really good preparation for the Giro and I feel really good so hopefully I can go for some stages here,” said Ewan in Novara to CyclingProNet.

In his pomp, Ewan would have been perfectly suited to a punchy run into a sprint so if he’s anywhere near back to his best it could be a chance to score his sixth Giro stage win.

“I think a finish like this suits me, with some of the sprinters legs I guess being a bit tired at the top of the climb. I think it is going to be really tough but it should come down to a sprint.”

Here’s a look at Jonathan Milan arriving at the start of today’s stage. He’ll fancy his chances even with the steep pinches near the finale. Milan won the first sprint opportunity at last year’s race and held the maglia ciclamino right the way through to Rome.

However, looking closer at today’s finish in Fossano reveals a much punchier final few kilometres than a simple flat run-in. The road up to Fossano takes the riders off a main road and onto a steeper duo of switchbacks. This steep pinch could prove a real problem for the purer sprinters mentioned earlier.

Aside from Merlier, there are a whole host of other sprinters at this year’s Giro in one of the most stacked fields for a while:
– Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike)
– Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
– Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla)
– Fabio Jakobsen and Tobias Lund Andresen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL)
– Alberto Dainese (Tudor)
– Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
– Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious)
– Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe)
– Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates)

Riders are completing sign-ons and the team presentation ahead of the third stage. Piemonte native Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) gets the biggest cheer of the day so far.

One man who will certainly be happy to be back in Novara is Tim Merlier. This is where the Belgian sprinter won his first Grand Tour stage in 2021 when he took victory in the second stage ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo. He’s riding for a different team in 2024 with Soudal-QuickStep but he’ll be hoping for similar success today.

We’ve unfortunately had the second abandon of the 2024 Giro d’Italia, with Eddie Dunbar leaving the race due to injuries he sustained yesterday.

Eddie Dunbar pulls out of the Giro d’Italia after crashing on stage 2

We’re around 45 minutes away from the neutralised start in Novara.

With the move into the maglia rosa, here’s a look at Pogačar customised bike for the third day. Nothing crazy for now but the pink accents do make that Colnago look even sweeter. 

Yesterday’s dominant display from Tadej Pogačar on the first summit finish of the race saw him move into the pink jersey with a 45-second lead on Geraint Thomas heading into today’s stage. If you missed out on the Slovenian’s stunning solo victory, catch up with how he did it below.

Giro d’Italia: Tadej Pogačar crashes but then cracks rivals with solo attack to win stage 2 to Oropa

The race stays in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy with a 166km route starting in Novara and heading south to Fossano. There isn’t much in the way of climbing along the route with just a singular category 4 climb to content with, so those with fast men should look to control. 

After an exhilarating opening weekend of racing with the GC action exploding in Turin and up Oropa, today’s third stage should be the first opportunity for the sprinters’ teams to show themselves and fight it out in a big bunch finish.

Buongiorno and welcome to our live coverage of stage 3 of the 2024 Giro d’Italia!