After 213 kilometres between Vasto and Melfi, Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-AlUla) ahead of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
"I'm really speechless. To come back like this after the last three months. What the team did today was incredible. I heard that Pedersen had problems on the last climb and I hoped that he had already wasted a lot of energy there. My plan to open the sprint early worked," said the exhausted winner Matthews.
The top 10 of stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia 2023
- Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-AlUla) 5:01:41
- Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) +0:00
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
- Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) +0:00
- Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Sven Erik Byström (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) +0:00
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +0:00
- Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0:00
- Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) +0:00
- Andrea Vendrame (AG2R-Citroën Team) +0:00
In the overall standings, there were some shifts in the top places. With Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team EmiratesRemco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) confidently defended the pink jersey. The Belgian even took a time bonus of three seconds at the intermediate sprint 9.7 kilometres before the finish ahead of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), who managed two more seconds. The Bora-Hansgrohe professionals Lennard Kämna and Aleksandr Vlasov reached the finish with the first group.
How the 3rd stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023 went
Immediately after the start, two escapees made off: Alexander Konychev and Veljko Stojnic (both Team Corratec - Selle Italia). The peloton initially made no great effort to bring the duo back. The Jayco-AlUla, Trek-Segafredo and Alpecin-Deceuninck teams controlled the action. Rain set in over the last 100 kilometres and the road became wet, making things more stressful in the peloton.
When it came to the finale with the two mountain classifications - Valico dei Laghi di Monticchio (3rd category) and Valico la Croce (4th category) - Jayco-AlUla for Matthews and Trek-Segafredo for Pedersen really pushed the pace in order to shake off the sprinters who were not so strong on the climbs. With success: First, the two breakaways were caught around 35 kilometres before the finish and the peloton was thinned out considerably. Pedersen even got into trouble himself in the meantime, but was able to catch up again on the descent. The two mountain classifications were won by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), who also took the lead in the mountain prize.
Crashes on a slippery descent
There were a few crashes on the final wet descent. Pieter Serry (Soudal - Quick Step) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) were among those affected. However, they were able to continue the race.
In the last ten kilometres, Evenepoel and Roglic initially sprinted for the bonus seconds - albeit not with their full commitment. Then Jayco-AlUla and Trek-Segafredo took command again.
In a twisty finale, Matthews opened the sprint around 250 metres before the finish, Pedersen came back strongly but was unable to overtake the Australian.
