Cycling: Tim Merlier won the third stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Belgian was able to prevail in an extremely demanding sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay. Tadej Pogacar and Geraint Thomas surprised with a late attack and almost crossed the finish line ahead of the sprinters.
Tim Merlier wins just ahead of Jonathan Milan
Chaotic mass sprint Giro d'Italia: Tim Merlier (Soudal – Quick-Step) wins the day. The Belgian was faster than after 166,3 kilometers from Novara to Fossano jonathan milan (Lidl – Trek) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché – Wanty). It almost didn't come to a classic sprint finale because the last hill was the end Tadej pogacar (UAE) a surprising attack. Together with Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) he almost managed a surprise coup. Ultimately, however, the sprinters were able to prevail.
Stroll to Fossano
After the exciting opening stages on Saturday and Sunday, very little interesting happened today at the Giro d'Italia - not to say nothing at all. The peloton agreed to a truce and drove towards the destination at a leisurely pace. Only Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché – Wanty) and David Ballerini (Astana) briefly tried to be an outlier. After the Frenchman secured the mountain points, he immediately fell back. The Italian also had little interest in driving further ahead as a soloist and eventually allowed himself to be caught. But because the peloton was moving so slowly, he almost had to stop to catch up.
Escape group of sprinters
During the intermediate sprint in Masio, some action unexpectedly came into the racing. The top sprinters actually only wanted to race for the points, but suddenly found themselves over a minute ahead of the main field. After initial hesitation, some teams agreed to pick up the pace and seize the opportunity. In the peloton, the teams Polti Kometa, Movistar and Bahrain – Victorious, who did not have their fast men at the front, reacted. By joining forces, these teams finally managed to catch up with the dangerous group after the second intermediate sprint. Full points were secured in both sprints jonathan milan (Lidl – Trek) confidently.
Uijtdebroeks caught off guard
During the catch-up, the peloton split in two. Among other things, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma – Lease a Bike) and Damian Caruso (Bahrain – Victorious) caught off guard. The gap between those left behind quickly increased to over half a minute. But this situation should also be neutralized. That's what it said again 45 kilometers from the finish “Gruppo Compatto”.
Pogacar is wasting his energy again
As expected, it started to rain in the last 20 kilometers. This should make the already demanding final phase with some waves and numerous curves a little more difficult for the professionals. Fortunately, all riders were spared from falling. But on the last hill there was another surprise. As Mikkel Honore (EF Education – EasyPost) attacked, followed him Tadej pogacar (UAE) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). During the bonus sprint in Cherasco a few kilometers earlier, he suddenly got out of the saddle and got two bonus seconds. This shows “Pogi” once again that he is not willing to use his strength. At the Tour de France, this has had a negative impact on his performance in the last week on several occasions in the past. We will be curious to see whether it will ultimately have consequences for him in Italy. In any case, it wasn't going to be enough for him on today's stage. The sprinters were finally able to win the day in Fossano.
| Thanks to Pogacar, it's a knotted finale, so we're going to get a mass sprint. Merlier knocks Milan en zegeviert! #Giroditalia
Koers bought it on discovery+ pic.twitter.com/KougwAuKFm
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) May 6, 2024