Highlights
Report
The peloton of the Giro d’Italia (2.UWT) started the third stage in the rain. On the program this Monday, a crossing of the Piedmont region of 190 kilometers from Biella towards Canale in the north-west of the country. Four climbs, spread over the last 70 kilometers, offered the prospect of an uncertain stage.
Like the day before, the first attack turned out to be the right one for the breakaway. After 5 kilometers, eight men received the green light from the peloton. Among them, the Dutchman Taco van der Hoorn, who had already distinguished himself at the forefront this season during Milan-San Remo and the E3 Classic. This group had accumulated a maximum lead of 6.30 minutes after an hour of racing.
As we approached the first climb of Piancanelli (7.5 km at 4.9%) after 120 km, the gap had dropped to 3 minutes. van der Hoorn made a good impression up front, managing his effort and not taking part in the fight for the mountain jersey, worn by his escape companion Albanese (EOLO). In the climb of Castino (5.1 km at 4.8%) whose summit was located 45 km from the finish, the breakaway lost two units while the peloton had returned to 2 minutes.
Quickly, the fugitives entered the penultimate climb of Manera (4.9 km at 5.9%). At the bottom of its long descent to the fourth ascent of Guarene (2.6 km at 6.8%), listed as a bonus sprint, the peloton was back to one minute. 20 kilometers were still remaining. This was the moment chosen by van der Hoorn and Pellaud (Androni) to distance themselves from the rest of the breakaway.
But behind, the pack led by Bora-Hansgrohe was determined to catch them. Taco van der Hoorn tried his chance at 10 kilometers from the finish, dropping Pellaud off. He then managed to keep all his pursuers in check, and the peloton was 30 seconds behind with 5 kilometers from the finish. At the end of the suspense, and after a breakaway of nearly 190 kilometers, the Dutchman arrived alone on the finish line at Canale. He claims the first victory of the season for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, also its first on a Grand Tour, on the very first Giro of the Belgian team.
Results
Stage
| 1 | Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | 4:21:29 |
| 2 | Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-up Nation | 0:00:04 |
| 3 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
| 4 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis | |
| 5 | Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel Start-up Nation | |
| 6 | Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix | |
| 7 | Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates | |
| 8 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-Nippo | |
| 9 | Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal | |
| 10 | Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo |
General Classification
| 1 | Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 8:51:26 |
| 2 | Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma | 0:00:16 |
| 3 | Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:20 |
| 4 | João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
| 5 | Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:21 |
| 6 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:00:26 |
| 7 | Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech | 0:00:27 |
| 8 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-Nippo | 0:00:29 |
| 9 | Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:00:30 |
| 10 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:32 |
Points
| 1 | Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix | 50 |
| 2 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis | 38 |
| 3 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos | 35 |
Mountains
| 1 | Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | 16 |
| 2 | Simon Pellaud (Swi) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | 6 |
| 3 | Lars van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ | 6 |
Young Riders
| 1 | Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 8:51:26 |
| 2 | Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma | 0:00:16 |
| 3 | Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:20 |