Immediately before the finish of the 156-kilometre section from Bibione to Buja, another climb awaited the women, but it slowly levelled out as they reached the finishing straight. There, Balsamo and the peloton caught the Norwegian Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) around 300 metres before the finish, who had made another breakaway attempt six kilometres before the finish.
Behind Balsamo, Lily Williams (Human Powered Health) sprinted to second place, with Femke Gerritse (SD Worx - Protime) in third. 40 women crossed the finish line at the same time, with none of the favourites in the classification showing any weakness. Demi Vollering (FDJ United - Suez) and Co. had flexed their muscles on the last climb and also left Balsamo behind for a while.
Serial winner Balsamo sees the end coming
"It was a hard-fought victory, which probably makes it even more valuable," said Balsamo after her win. "I knew the final very well, so I told myself that even if I fell back, I still had enough distance to catch up again." With bonus seconds alone, Balsamo now leads the classification by 24 seconds ahead of Williams and 30 seconds ahead of Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ). 30 women follow at the same time, including Antonia Niedermaier (CANYON//SRAM).
"Wearing the maglia rosa is an incredible feeling, even though I know that I'll probably have to hand it over to someone else tomorrow," said Balsamo. After three flat stages, an individual time trial over 12.7 kilometres awaits, which could easily pass for a mountain time trial and will turn the classification completely upside down.
Giro d'Italia Women 2026 - Results of the 3rd stage
Stage 3: Bibione - Buja
Grand Prix de Denain - Porte du Hainaut 2025: Stage 3, Bibione - Buja
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lidl - Trek | 03:43:43 |
| 2 | Human Powered Health | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | Team SD Worx - Protime | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | UAE Team ADQ | +00:00:00 |
| 5 | UAE Team ADQ | +00:00:00 |
| 6 | Team Picnic PostNL | +00:00:00 |
How the 3rd stage of the Giro d'Italia Women 2026 went
A classic race on stage 3. Shortly after the start, a five-rider lead group was established with Alison Jackson (EF EducationSt Michel - Preference Home - Auber93), Cristina Tonetti (Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi), Eleonora Deotto (Team Mendelspeck E-Work), Nienke Veenhoven (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Marta Pavesi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo). Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx - Protime) joined them a short time later. The group built up a lead of up to three minutes over the first part of the course, which was completely flat.
Around 60 kilometres before the finish at the first mountain classification of the day (4th category), the leading group split up, with Jackson, Tonetti and Pavesi leaving the remaining breakaway riders behind. The remaining trio continued with a minimal gap of less than a minute, but were then dropped at the second mountain classification 26 kilometres before the finish.
The favourites for overall victory tested their strength for the first time on the climb. Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx - Protime), Femke de Vries (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and the Lidl-Trek duo Niamh Fisher-Black and Isabella Holmgren gained a few seconds on the peloton, but were unable to agree on a common line after the mountain classification.
Everything came together again and Balsamo also returned to the lead. Despite numerous attacks, no woman was able to break away over the next few kilometres. Haugset only managed to do so six kilometres before the finish. The clock showed a maximum lead of eight seconds for her, but she made it to the 300 metre mark. But then the peloton sprinted past the breakaway after the most difficult part of a final climb had already been completed, with Balsamo coming out on top.
