2019 Giro d'Italia Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2019 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
\nOne of the longest stages of this Giro d’Italia was one of few events but a lot of tension – with a black and white difference between the first and latter half. In the end, Elia Viviani (DQS) crossed the line first, but was relegated by race jury as second place Fernando Gaviria (UAD) takes the stage win.
The first half of the race was a chance for all riders to rest their legs. All riders, except for one. Sho Hatsuyama of the Nippo Vini Fantini Faizane team attacked on kilometre zero, presumably expecting others to quickly join up with him. However, as the former Japanese champion was still solo with over four minutes advantage at the ascent of the uncategorized Poggio all’Aglione, it was clear he was going to do this stage by himself.
Hatsuyama, who has nicknamed himself ‘the Sho-stopper’, was national champion in 2016, but his biggest career victory is the 2013 one-day Tour of Okinawa. His compatriot and teammate Hiroki Nishimura was sent home after arriving outside of the time limit in the opening time trial, and today teammate Moreno Moser, who wasn’t selected for this Giro, unexpectedly announced his early retirement, so the team will relish today’s positive publicity.
At the halfway point, the peloton started getting nervous, and it became excruciatingly clear why no others had joined Hatsuyama in the break: the wind was blowing hard, and both sprinters’ teams and GC contenders fought for position to keep their leaders safe from the mere threat of echelons. In no time at all, the solo escapee was caught back before the second intermediate sprint in Grosseto. Although the sprint offered bonus seconds for the classification rather than points for the sprint classification, it was Groupama-FDJ’s Demare taking the sprint as the GC leaders were happy to safely navigate the road furniture in the Italian town. A few kilometre later, Trek Segafredo’s Giulio Ciccone was allowed to add a further 3 points to his lead in the KOM classification without challenge.
The final fifteen kilometres was where the built up tension really exploded. Although no actual echelons were formed, riders with mechanicals or crashes found it exceedingly difficult to return to the peloton as teams upped the speed in their fight for position. Richard Carapaz (MOV) fell victim to such a mechanical, while a crash at five kilometres to go involving amongst others James Knox (DQT) and Enrico Battaglin (TKA) caused a definite split in the peloton.
With most lead-out trains sapped in these hectic five kilometres, it was all for themselves after a chicane at 500 metres to go. From here on onwards, riders were facing the wind head on. It was Maglia Ciclamino wearer Pascal Ackermann who went first, and found the wind too strong for his liking. As his speed fizzled out in the wind, Elia Viviani swooped past him and dominantly outsprinted the field. It was this swoop that cost Viviani dear though, as it was here that he crossed the line of young an upcoming Italian sprinter Matteo Moschetti (TFS). Deeming this move too dangerous to be tolerated, the jury relegated Viviani to the end of the group, with the rest of the top 10 moving up a spot. The final tally for the stage reads Fernando Gaviria (UAD) first, Arnoud Demare second and Pascal Ackermann third. About his victory, Gaviria commented: "It's hard to laugh or smile when something like that happens to a friend. Elia is a great person, he always does things very well to get in shape, and I'm sorry about what happened to him. For me he did nothing wrong . (...) He wanted to try and make a good sprint and won the stage. I like to win on the road, Viviani is a great racer and I'm sorry for him ”.
Among the GC contenders, only Carapaz and Tao Geogeghan Hart (INS), who got stuck behind the fall at five kilometres to go, lost time. Primoz Roglic (TJV) was kept in the front all day and gets to wear the pink jersey another day. Was he afraid of the wind? “I wasn't really scared of the crosswinds at the end because we are a team from Holland so we know how to deal with the wind.”, the confident GC leader spoke after the stage.
Join us tomorrow for a rematch on another sprint stage to Frascati, this time with a slight uphill kicker at the end. \n
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