As expected, there was a bunch sprint at the end of stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia 2024. In this, Tim Merlier (Soudal - Quick Step) stormed past the competition to win the day with an inimitable attack from around eighth position on the right-hand side of the finishing straight.
In the end, thanks to his high top speed, the Belgian came out on top just ahead of Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who was only a few centimetres short of victory. Third place went to the Eritrean Biniam Girmay from Team Intermarche-Wanty. After three stage victories at the UAE Tour 2024, Merlier took his fourth stage win at a World Tour race this year. He can also wear the Maglia Ciclamino on stage 4, as he leads the points classification on equal points with Jonathan Milan. The German sprinters around Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan Team) played no role, as did Bora-Hansgrohe's Danny van Poppel.
Pogacar and Thomas almost surprise the sprinters
There was a short climb just before the finale, where several riders tried to put a spanner in the works of the sprinters. Mikkel Frölich Honore (EF Education-EasyPost) was the first rider to open up a small gap to the peloton three kilometres from the finish. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and the overall leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) immediately found themselves on the Dane's rear wheel. While Honore was unable to maintain his high pace and was quickly reeled back in, the two contenders for overall victory tried to carry their attack through to the finish. Only a few hundred metres before the finish line were the duo caught by the sprinters, who ultimately decided the day's victory between themselves.
It was a very tough finale. I hardly found any slipstream on the last kilometre. Then I thought that I just had to go for it. I'm happy to have won today. - Tim Merlier in the winner's interview
Giro d'Italia 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 3
- Tim Merlier (Soudal - Quick Step) 3:54:35
- Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
- Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) +0:00
- Jenthe Biermans (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +0:00
- Tobias Lund Andresen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
- Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:00
- Ethan Vernon (Israel-PremierTech) +0:00
- Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis) +0:00
- Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) +0:00
- Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +0:00
The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 11:03:02
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:46
- Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:47
- One Rubio (Movistar) +0:56
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:56
- Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +1:07
- Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) +1:11
- Jan Hirt (Soudal - Quick Step) +1:13
- Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +1:26
- Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +1:26
How the 3rd stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 went
Stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia 2024 took the riders over 166 mostly flat kilometres from Novara to Fossano. Due to the strong field of sprinters on the stage, no riders made any attempt to break away from the peloton at the start of the race. It took a long time for two riders to break away for the time being.
Quiet start
Shortly before the first and only mountain classification of the day in the fourth category in Lu, Lilian Calmejane (Intermarche-Wanty) and Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan Team) made a break for three and two points respectively. Immediately after the classification, the two riders dropped back into the peloton.
The sprinter teams set the pace on stage 3. Lidl-Trek, Intermarche-Wanty and Alpecin-Deceuninck, among others, rode in the wind for their top sprinters Jonathan Milan, Biniam Girmay and Kaden Groves. The team of overall leader UAE Team Emirates, on the other hand, had a quiet day for long stretches and hardly had to ride in the wind.
Sprinters find themselves in a breakaway group
At the intermediate sprint classification in Masio, Jonathan Milan won the full twelve points. The sprinters were able to break away from the peloton with a few riders and soon had a lead of over a minute over the peloton. Alpecin-Deceuninck, which was well represented in the front group, took this as an opportunity to keep up the pace.
The lead group of more than 20 riders had a lead of over a minute and a half, then Team Movistar, among others, made a serious move in the peloton, having missed the post breakaway. The lead group's advantage shrank again - it was caught up again 43 kilometres before the finish, putting everything back to square one. In the meantime, there was also a second peloton that couldn't keep up with Movistar's pace. Many riders around the currently best young pro Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) had to work hard to catch up with the peloton, which they finally managed to do.
The pace is getting faster and faster
The pace and excitement increased as a result. The teams began to sort themselves out, while some riders had to give up their promising position for a possible sprint. For example, Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) found himself at the back of the peloton a few kilometres before the finish and ultimately played no role.
On the final ramp three kilometres before the finish, Mikkel Honore took off and took Tadej Pogacar and Geraint Thomas with him, who rode ahead until shortly before the finish line. In the last hundred metres, however, they were caught, resulting in a bunch sprint at the end. Tim Merlier had the fastest legs, relegating Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay to second and third place. Meanwhile, there were only minimal shifts in the overall standings.
