2013 Giro d'Italia Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2013 Giro d'Italia is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Italian rides into pink on attack-filled finale
Luca Paolini (Katusha) won stage three to Marina di Ascea and snatched the race leader's pink jersey with a solo attack on the final part of the twisting descent to the finish.
The 36 year-old Italian won alone, with Cadel Evans (BMC) and Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) taking second and third, 16 seconds behind. Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) finished in the same front group but Salvatore Puccio was not there and so lost the pink jersey to Paolini, who took it thanks the 20 second time bonus. Evans picked up 12 seconds and Hesjedal took 8 seconds, making up for their poor team time trial on Sunday.
The late climb of Sella di Catona was not expected to shake up the race but an attack by 2012 Giro winner Hesjedal forced a major selection with the twisting descent causing several crashes and left just 20 riders up front.
Paolini is riding his first Giro d'Italia and took off in pursuit of victory with five kilometres to go.
"It's incredible to win like that and take the pink jersey as well," he said. "My father was in hospital today for a minor operation and so this pink jersey is for him."
"I suffered to stay on during the climb and tried to ride at my pace. I knew there was a little climb near the finish and know I can descend pretty well. I went for it."
"I rode as if it was a Classic. We had a good TTT and so I knew I could take pink if I won. I did it."
Get our full coverage of the Giro d'Italia and every race we cover with our mobile app! The apps have over 100 additional exclusive features, including our award-winning Time Machine feature that lets you pause/rewind/replay the entire app to sync with delayed race video, integrated Fantasy Cycling, push notifications, an integrated news feed, live GPS tracking, world-class commentary, and our animated interactive maps and profiles.
