The profile of the stage from Vlora to the south and then back to the starting point over 160 kilometres might have allowed for a different course. However, Lidl-Trek controlled the action on the decisive ten-kilometre category 2 climb, after the descent of which there were still 20 kilometres to the finish, and set a pace that challenged Pedersen, but did not overtax him, and kept the GC teams happy so that there were no attacks.
Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain - Victorious) tried their best, but in the end it was perhaps only for the mountain jersey, which Fortunato took by scoring points at the summit. However, it was all far too much for the classic sprinters. Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were among the first to be dropped. Kaden Groves (Alpecin - Deceuninck) and the ailing Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) also had to abandon surprisingly early.
Lidl plan works perfectly again
Pedersen more or less had to deal with hand-picked competition, which he had relatively easily under control. Strong was also absent from the peloton at times and only managed to catch up again after the descent, but then delivered a strong sprint. Pedersen's second stage win not only secured his defence of the Maglia Ciclamino, but also his return to the pink jersey, which he had lost by one second after the time trial to Primoz Roglic (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), who, like all the other GC riders, crossed the finish line with the peloton.
"Our plan was to set a good pace on the long climb and control the race for us so that I wouldn't have to go over the limit. The team did that perfectly again. Celebrating our second stage win and being back in pink is exactly what we wanted today," said Pedersen in an interview after the 52nd victory of his career.
After the third day in Albania, the first rest day of the Giro is already on the programme on Monday. The bunch moves from the east coast of the Adriatic by ferry to the other side of the sea in the heel of Italy's boot, where the first real flat stage will be tackled on Tuesday.
Giro d'Italia 2025 - Results of the 3rd stage
Stage 3: Vlorë - Vlorë
Giro d'Italia 2025: Stage 3, Vlorë - Vlorë
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lidl - Trek | 03:49:47 |
| 2 | Israel - Premier Tech | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | Movistar Team | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | INEOS Grenadiers | +00:00:00 |
| 5 | Bahrain - Victorious | +00:00:00 |
| 6 | Cofidis | +00:00:00 |
How the 3rd stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025 went
182 riders took on the 3rd and final stage in Albania. And four of them quickly went on the offensive. Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama - FDJ), Chris Hamilton (Team Picnic - PostNL) and Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cyling) broke away from the peloton in the first ten kilometres. The duo of Alessandro Tonelli (Team Polti VisitMalta) and Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) only decided to join the leading group later on.
It took a while, but after around 30 kilometres there were six men at the front and they built up a constant lead of three minutes. Tonelli won the first intermediate sprint (KM 34.5), Donovan the first mountain classification (4th category, KM 65.4). However, Pedersen and Moniquet's jerseys were not jeopardised.
Fortunato and Bilbao attack
With 20 degrees and dry weather, but nevertheless difficult road conditions that caused many defects, the breakaway's lead remained constant until halfway through the race. After the Red Bull kilometre, where De Bondt secured the bonus seconds, the gap quickly shrank by a minute with 65 kilometres to go.
There was still a minute and a half to go until the foot of the Qafa e Llogarasë (2nd category), which was more or less marked by the second sprint classification won by Tonelli. Lidl - Trek took over the pace work in the peloton to control the pace for Pedersen. But the plan was crashed by Bilbao and Fortunato, who attacked from the peloton and picked up the crumbling front group.
There, only Hamilton and Tonelli were able to keep up with the duo. But neither of them made it to the summit. Bilbao left the 18 mountain points to the more active Fortunato at the top, and then they started the descent with a lead of just 40 seconds over the field.
Pedersen has everything under control on the home straight
Shortly after the descent, 19 kilometres before the finish, they were used up as expected. A good 50 riders were still together, pure sprinters were no longer among them, but all the GC contenders were. Lidl - Trek kept the peloton together without any resistance for Pedersen until the final straight.
The last 1000 metres were then a matter for leadout rider Mathias Vacek and Pedersen, who ignited his turbo at 250 metres. Strong had the best position on the Dane's hitner bike, but was unable to get past. As in the opening race, Aular finished third and just managed to hold off Brandon Riviera (INEOS Greandiers), who flew to fourth place with an extremely high final speed and would have done even better if he had covered a few more metres. From fifth place onwards, the top 10 was an all-Italian affair.
