Fernando Gaviria takes maglia rosa on windy Giro d'Italia stage three
Quick-Step Floors' Fernando Gaviria took a debut Giro d'Italia stage victory and with it the race leader's maglia rosa as crosswinds ripped the peloton apart in the last ten kilometres of stage three.
Gaviria's teammate Bob Jungels was supreme in blazing a trail for his team to follow as the race turned into cutting crosswinds in the final stages, resulting in the peloton splitting into multiple groups on the road and many of the pre-stage favourites losing time.
Jungels led a group of eight into the final kilometre where Gaviria took over to take the stage win ahead of Rudiger Selig (Bora-Hansgrohe), Italian national champion Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Segafredo) and Nathan Haas (Dimension Data).
As a result of the big splits in the peloton caused by Jungels and the Quick-Step team, Gaviria takes the race lead, nine seconds ahead of Lotto-Soudal's Andre Greipel - who lost contact with the Quick-Step group in the crosswinds - and 13 seconds ahead of Bora-Hansgrohe's Lukas Postlberger, Jungels and Bahrain-Merida's Kanstantsin Siutsou.
A short stage like this would normally be a doddle for experienced professional riders, but with most of the 148km from Tortoli exposed to strong head and crosswinds each rider would have to be very careful not to lose contact with the front of the race in the closing kilometres into Cagliari.
Wildcard team representatives Eugert Zhupa (Willier Selle Italia), Jan Tratnik (CCC) and Ivan Rovny (Gazprom) made up the day's breakaway, but on such a short stage they never took much of an advantage, the peloton letting them hang off the front with a consistent gap of around two minutes.
Tratnik valiantly set off on his own inside 30km to go after his fellow escapees were caught but the Slovenian national champion was inevitably reeled in just three kilometres later.
The final 20km became a frenzy of chaotic movement in the peloton, with all teams jostling for space to keep their leader safe from the buffeting headwinds and debris at the edge of the road, which had already caused a multitude of punctures and other mechanic issues.
As the race changed direction in the last ten kilometres towards Cagliari, the crosswinds became immediately apparent, slicing the peloton to pieces with gusts up to 50kmph.
Luxemburg national champion Jungels was the man to make the decisive move, taking a bunch of around ten riders with him, including six teammates and Team Sky's Geraint Thomas, with many of the sprint favourites stuck behind unable to bridge the gap through the brutal crosswind.
Thomas couldn't hang on but Jungels, almost single handed, brought the front group of eight riders into the last kilometre where it was Haas who launched the sprint, with Gaviria, Nizzolo and Selig hot on his heels.
Gaviria wasn't going to let the chance of a debut Giro d'Italia stage win escape him though and the Colombian powered ahead to take the win and the maglia rosa.
Monday is a rest day as the teams make the long transfer from Sardinia to Sicily, where Tuesday's stage four takes the riders 181km from Cefalu to a summit finish on Mount Etna which is almost guaranteed to result in the the first big general classification shake-up.
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| Credit: cyclingweekly.com |
Jungels led a group of eight into the final kilometre where Gaviria took over to take the stage win ahead of Rudiger Selig (Bora-Hansgrohe), Italian national champion Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Segafredo) and Nathan Haas (Dimension Data).
As a result of the big splits in the peloton caused by Jungels and the Quick-Step team, Gaviria takes the race lead, nine seconds ahead of Lotto-Soudal's Andre Greipel - who lost contact with the Quick-Step group in the crosswinds - and 13 seconds ahead of Bora-Hansgrohe's Lukas Postlberger, Jungels and Bahrain-Merida's Kanstantsin Siutsou.
A short stage like this would normally be a doddle for experienced professional riders, but with most of the 148km from Tortoli exposed to strong head and crosswinds each rider would have to be very careful not to lose contact with the front of the race in the closing kilometres into Cagliari.
Wildcard team representatives Eugert Zhupa (Willier Selle Italia), Jan Tratnik (CCC) and Ivan Rovny (Gazprom) made up the day's breakaway, but on such a short stage they never took much of an advantage, the peloton letting them hang off the front with a consistent gap of around two minutes.
Tratnik valiantly set off on his own inside 30km to go after his fellow escapees were caught but the Slovenian national champion was inevitably reeled in just three kilometres later.
The final 20km became a frenzy of chaotic movement in the peloton, with all teams jostling for space to keep their leader safe from the buffeting headwinds and debris at the edge of the road, which had already caused a multitude of punctures and other mechanic issues.
As the race changed direction in the last ten kilometres towards Cagliari, the crosswinds became immediately apparent, slicing the peloton to pieces with gusts up to 50kmph.
Luxemburg national champion Jungels was the man to make the decisive move, taking a bunch of around ten riders with him, including six teammates and Team Sky's Geraint Thomas, with many of the sprint favourites stuck behind unable to bridge the gap through the brutal crosswind.
Thomas couldn't hang on but Jungels, almost single handed, brought the front group of eight riders into the last kilometre where it was Haas who launched the sprint, with Gaviria, Nizzolo and Selig hot on his heels.
Gaviria wasn't going to let the chance of a debut Giro d'Italia stage win escape him though and the Colombian powered ahead to take the win and the maglia rosa.
Monday is a rest day as the teams make the long transfer from Sardinia to Sicily, where Tuesday's stage four takes the riders 181km from Cefalu to a summit finish on Mount Etna which is almost guaranteed to result in the the first big general classification shake-up.
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