Stage 3

The road

At the start

The day that will not stay simple

Ganna keeps pink into Piemonte's third day, sixteen seconds on Foss, and Tim Merlier has the cyclamen jersey after Novara. Krists Neilands did not start. The road turns awkward after the sprint at Canelli: the Bric delle Forche and two more climbs in the last eighty kilometres, then a final ramp at Guarene. Enough to shake the sprinters loose, enough to tempt a breakaway.

How it was won

1. 137 km to go

   Bora thin the field

   The German team drive the second and third climbs hard enough to shed Merlier, Groenewegen, Dekker and Ewan outright, and the break is down to five with its lead under 1:30.

2. 217 km to go

   The break fractures again

   On an uncategorised kick seventeen kilometres out Pellaud goes with Van der Hoorn and Zoccarato, dropping the latter near the top. The same climb springs Gallopin and Ciccone from the peloton.

3. 39 km to go

   Van der Hoorn goes alone

   With nine kilometres left and only forty seconds of cushion, the Dutchman attacks his last companion — a decision that looks close to absurd with a hungry bunch bearing down. Instead he stretches the gap to a minute and simply refuses to be caught.

4. 4At the line

   Canale

   Ciccone and Gallopin are swept up with two kilometres left, but Van der Hoorn hangs on by twenty seconds for the biggest win of his career and the first of his team's World Tour existence.

The result