Mark Cavendish (36) has not missed his return to the Giro. The Briton, who started the Tour of Italy for the first time since 2013, convincingly won the 3rd stage. It is Quick Step’s first stage win in the Giro since 2018. Arnaud Démare, Fernando Gaviria and Biniam Girmay completed the top 4. Edward Theuns was 6th, Caleb Ewan 8th.
The 3rd stage of the Giro in a nutshell:
- Winner of the day: In 2013, the Giro ended with a flat stage in Brescia, won by Mark Cavendish. Nine years later, the Brit is still one of the fastest guys on the planet. At the first chance for sprinters, Cav immediately hits the mark.
- Loser of the Day: It’s not a big love between Caleb Ewan and Italy this year. The Australian crashed in Tirreno-Adriatico, had to miss Milan-Sanremo due to illness and is still licking his wounds in this Giro after a crash in the first stage.
- Remarkable: Cavendish comes dangerously close to the 57 of Mario Cipollini with 53 day victories in big rounds. One man does even better than Cipo: Eddy Merckx is probably untouchable forever with 64 stage victories.
- Morning: De Giro says goodbye to Hungary and gets on a plane to Sicily. After that relative rest day, the first heavy task follows on Tuesday with the ride to Etna. Will the favorites erupt on the volcano?
Historyless stage gets glamorous winner
It promised to be 201 long kilometers. Just like in the first stage, the good flight left after only a few meters. Even the names were almost the same. Mattia Bais and Filippo Tagliani did receive support from Samuele Rivi today and got a lead of up to five minutes from a slow paddling peloton.
Alpecin-Fenix halved the gap in the service of pink jersey Mathieu van der Poel, while Tagliani swept up the intermediate sprints. Bais gave up on the second traguardo volante of the day and at about 25 km from the finish, Tagliani and Rivi were also caught by the peloton. On the only so-called slope of the day, Pascal Eenkhoorn continued after a run with blue jersey Rick Zabel, but he too could not avoid a sprint.
In preparation for that sprint, Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl may have moved forward a little too quickly. Spearhead Mark Cavendish, however, was extremely strong and steamed from very far to victory. Arnaud Démare and Fernando Gavirio stranded in the wheel, Caleb Ewan was not involved on the shores of Lake Balaton.
Theuns: “Démare knocked me out of Cavendish’s wheel”
Vansevenant: “Fantastic to start with, on Etna it will be everyone for himself”
Cavendish: “We have a great group”
Mark Cavendish was of course delighted with his victory. “We wanted to do well in this first sprint and we did.” Still, there was a bit of discontent. “Schmid and Ballerini had to keep us up front in the final, but I didn’t see Schmid.”
“Ballerini had to do the last 10-15 km by himself. With him, Van Lerberghe and Mørkøv we have a great group. I already said that before the stage and they showed it,” Cavendish praised his other teammates at Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl.
Finishing it wasn’t so easy in the end. “The other teams came, but Mørkøv remained super cool. In the end I had to go from far, at 300 meters. I had to keep the tightrope. I’m very happy that it worked.”
Serry: “Knew Cavendish would be good”
“We have more or less done what we wanted,” pilot Michael Mørkøv responded. “We wanted to sit at the front with a few guys at that roundabout, but every team had that plan. And after that Cavendish drove a great sprint in my eyes.”
“He just keeps doing it”, exulted servant Pieter Serry. “Two years ago Cavendish was written off, but we made it a winner again. It’s phenomenal.”
“I knew he would be good after his internship with our Greek coach in Greece. He has worked hard and he is sharp. That is why I wanted to ride this Giro: in a winning team it is fun.”
Van der Poel: “It was great in Hungary”
“We have delivered a great team performance”, analyzed Mathieu van der Poel, who took care of the lead-out for Jakub Mareczko in his pink jersey. “He lost our wheel at that roundabout and got a bit boxed in. But he has done well. He is fifth, but there was more possible. We still have opportunities in the coming days.”
Van der Poel is getting on a plane to Sicily with his pink sweater. “I’m happy with that. It was great here in Hungary and I will enjoy it in Italy too.”
Just pay attention in the last straight line.
