Nat Bromhead
Italian sprinter Elia Viviani of Quick-Step Floors has won the bunch sprint Stage 3 finale of the 101st Giro d’Italia.
The third and final Israel-based stage, riders finished the 229km Be’er Sheva to Eilat leg after contending with strong winds and sandy conditions. Sacha Modolo (Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale) and Sam Bennett (Bora – Hansgrohe) finished second and third.
Rohan Dennis Retains Pink
Still in the pink jersey and leading Tom Dumoulin by just 1 second, Rohan Dennis said it had been a stressful day of racing with strong tail winds and sand to contend with.
“In the end, it’s been a maximum effort to stay out of trouble and away from the splits, said Dennis. The wind was very strong, especially the last 20km, we were sitting on 70km an hour so we couldn’t go any faster. It was super fast and we were lucky that it wasn’t a crosswind. Once again, the team did a great job and kept me up the front.”
With tomorrow the first rest day of the event – earlier than typical to assist with the logistics of moving the race to Sicily for Stage 4 – Rohan Dennis said he was planning to ride and rest.
“The plan for the Italian stages will be to hold the jersey for as long as possible and then the battle after that will be getting to Rome.”
“In Sicily, I’ll take it day by day and try to stay in pink as long as possible.”
Stage 3 Results
1 – Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) – 229km in 5h02’09”, average speed 45.474km/h
2 – Sacha Modolo (Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale) s.t.
3 – Sam Bennett (Bora – Hansgrohe) s.t.
General Classification after Stage 3
1 – Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team)
2 – Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) at 1″
3 – José Gonçalves (Team Katusha Alpecin) at 13″
