Stage 3

The road

At the start

The first real day for the sprinters

Oropa did what everyone expected. Pogačar is in pink with Geraint Thomas and Daniel Martínez both 45 seconds back, and Robert Gesink has gone home. Today brings the drama down — 166 kilometres to Fossano, one categorised climb and a flat run-in — and the fast men who have waited three days finally get their chance. There is a bonus sprint inside the last fifteen kilometres, and an unclassified rise just before it.

How it was won

1. 13 km to go

   Pogačar's late ambush

   On the unclassified rise 3km out, Honoré springs the trap and Pogačar and Thomas leap across, the maglia rosa driving hard on the flat to try to steal the stage from the sprinters.

2. 2At the line

   Merlier by a millisecond

   The charging sprint trains reel the pair in inside the final 300 metres, and Tim Merlier hits the wind at the perfect moment to edge Jonathan Milan for the first bunch sprint of the race.

The result