As it happened: Giro d’Italia stage 3 decided by photo finish bunch sprint

Milan is pipped to the line, and Magnier takes a second win!

2026-05-10T14:28:25.352Z

Milan starts his sprint early…

2026-05-10T14:28:09.720Z

Theyve been caught, and Unibet lead the peloton.

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Surely they can’t stay clear?

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It’s getting a little panicked in the peloton, the catch not yet made.

2026-05-10T14:26:33.885Z

Just 2km to go – and the catch still hasn’t been made…

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On one side of the road Lidl lead, on the other Unibet Rose Rockets.

2026-05-10T14:24:48.277Z

Sevilla, Tarozzi and Tonelli haven’t given up yet, and are working well together.

The break is still out there, but with a lead of under 20 seconds.

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It’s a wide road, so lots of teams are spread across the road horizontally, near the front.

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Astana and Movistar also right towards the front.

2026-05-10T14:21:31.456Z

A first crash of the day, Timo de Jong going down. He seems to be OK though.

2026-05-10T14:20:50.744Z

Now the trains come charging through! Bardiani take over at the front, rivalled by Lidl

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At the front, it’s still the same riders at the front, but sprint trains are starting to form behind.

23 seconds for the break as they enter the final 10km.

2026-05-10T14:16:03.803Z

Andresen is safely back in the peloton. But how much prescious energy did he use up in the chase?

2026-05-10T14:14:32.921Z

Tarozzi and Sevilla sprint for the Red Bull KM line… and Tarozzi wins it.

2026-05-10T14:12:04.614Z

Andresen is 35 seconds behind the peloton.

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Mechanical for Andresen! That’s bad timing, only 16km from the finish.

2026-05-10T14:09:50.780Z

There’s a Red Bull Kilometre coming up in a few kilometres. With three riders in the break, there isn’t set to be any time bonuses left for anyone in the peloton to snap up, as Bernal did yesterday.

Just under a minute now for the break. The pace is up in the peloton, but it’s still the same riders working, with no reinforcements.

2026-05-10T14:02:59.990Z

The breakaway riders aren’t giving up yet. They’ve grown their lead back out to almost a minute again.

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NSN were left very frustrated yesterday when, having spent practically all day leading the peloton with Ryan Mullen, their stage candidate Corbin Strong was denied a chance to go for the stage when he crashed out. They’ve done no work today, but their likely man for today – pure sprinter Ethan Vernon – is still one of the best shouts for the expected sprint today.

The peloton is delaying making the catch, keeping the break at just under 30 seconds. But it’s surely only a matter of time.

2026-05-10T13:55:41.711Z

A crash prevented Kaden Groves from the chance of sprinting on stage one, but so far today has passed without incident. If he can get a clean run to the line, and is feeling better after that fall, he’ll be a contender.

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The peloton, where Lidl are now also helping out with the pace-setting through Amanuel Ghebreigzabhiher.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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The climb completed, Dylan Groenewegen is poised to have a crack at the bunch sprint today. The Dutchman has been one of the in-form fastmen of the season, with four wins to his name already, and his team have been contributing to the chase all day. Of his 80+ career wins, none have come from the Giro – he’ll want to put that right today.

Only 35 seconds left for the break. The peloton have them firmly under control.

2026-05-10T13:40:14.452Z

Tobias Lund Andresen was second behind Magnier on the opening stage, a performance that indicates he has no problem replicating his strong early season form of Grand Tour level. His Decathlon team has had no presence at the front of the peloton all day, but have a tendency to move into position at just the right time come the sprint finale.

2026-05-10T13:37:52.796Z

How will the race’s headline sprinter, Jonathan Milan, fare today? The home favourite didn’t get up to full speed in the opening stage sprint, but still described himself this morning as being at ‘98%.’ That would likely be a fast enough Milan to take victory.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-10T13:32:29.671Z

So it feels safe to say that today will end in a bunch sprint, barring any drama. But who is most likely to triumph in one?

Paul Magnier won the first, and is conspicuous in the purple jersey as a result of that win. His Giro has been a success whatever happens from now, but following that up with another would set him up for a potential haul of stage wins, plus position him well for a points classification challenge.

The peloton has begun winding the breakaway in. They’re now only a minute behind.

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There’s been a change at the front of the peloton – Lidl have placed a rider there to help with the work. They’re setting things up for Milan.

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And they’ve done it! They managed to get into the race convoy and speed through it and back onto the rear of the peloton.

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De Lie has teammates Giddings and Rutsch with him to try and help get him back into the peloton.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

2:15 is the gap between the leaders and the peloton, with De Lie making up ground behind, now 1:20 down.

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De Lie has a rather unpleasant reason for his poor shape at the moment – a suspected cow dung infection, sustained during the Famenne Ardennes Classic.

Sevilla takes the points uncontested. That means he’ll go into the rest day not only as leader of the mountains classification, but with a 100% record having taken maximum points at every climb so far.

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The break aare nearly at the top of the climb.

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De Lie is having a really hard time. He ha two teammates with him, but finds himself almost a minute adrift of the peloton.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-10T12:59:27.815Z

Campanerts crosses team boundaries to hand De Lie a bidon, and then makes his way back to the peloton. A sporting gesture, though his Visma team might think differently.

2026-05-10T12:58:19.907Z

De Lie has now been dropped, and has Josh Giddings and Campanerts with him.

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Victor Campanerts is also out the back, away from all his other Visma teammates, but seems to be there more for emotional support for his compatriot and former teammate De Lie than suffering himself.

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This is looking bad for De Lie again, who, despite the modest pace, is struggling to hang on to the back of the peloton. He’s clearly still suffering from whatever ailed him yesterday.

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At last year’s Giro, this was the kind of climb that Mads Pedersen would have sensed as an opportunity to drop his rivals, but there isn’t really a rider of his profile at this year’s race, or a team with the same strength to execute such a plan.

2026-05-10T12:47:33.968Z

So far it’s the same Astana, Soudal and Unibet riders setting tempo.

2:25 is the gap as they begin this climb. The leaders will be hoping no team in the peloton wants to take it on up these slopes.

2026-05-10T12:41:50.367Z

The breakaway trio are on the climb now.

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Only a kilometre left until the official start of the climb. It’s a slow and steady one, with an average gradient of 5.3% that will start to hurt towards the end of its 9.2km duration. Will any teams apply pressure to dry and drop some sprinters, or deem it too far from the finish to be worth the effort?

2026-05-10T12:36:18.415Z

Here are the updated points classification rankings:

1 Magnier 55

Still the break’s lead remains at about 2:30. That might change when they start the official climb .

2026-05-10T12:19:42.722Z

Jonathan Milan. We might get some idea of how well he’s sprinting come this intermediate sprint. So far at this Giro, he hasn’t quite looked at his best.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-10T12:15:08.490Z

A reminder of the current points classification rankings:

1 Magnier 55

The gap’s up a bit, to 2:50, as the leaders press on along these foothills of the upcoming climb.

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One team that managed to avoid disaster yesterday was Netcompany Ineos. Their riders avoided the crash, and came through the stage looking in a strong position, with Egan Bernal already up to third overall after smartly taking some easy bonus seconds on offer.

The gap’s holding steady, at about two and a half minutes.

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The front of the peloton, being led by Magnier’s Soudal teammate.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Arnaud De Lie is talking to his team car. On paper he’d be a top candidate for the stage in a sprint today, but really struggled on the climbs yesterday, so will be up against it to survive today’s.

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The road is going ever so slightly uphill, which it will continue to do so gradually until the onset of the official Borovets Pass, in about 35km’s time.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

The gap’s come down again, from about three minutes back to 2:25.

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One rider who was involved in the crash, but who survived it to live another day at this Giro, was Derek Gee-West. Though held up by the incident, he didn’t seem too badly affected by it, based on the way he powered past riders while trying to rejoin the peloton. Ultimately he didn’t quite manage to, but retains his GC hopes by limiting his losses to one minute.

The gap’s gone up to three minutes. The same three riders are sharing turns at the front of the peloton, but have slowed down a bit.

2026-05-10T11:20:35.147Z

Another victim of yesterday’s crash was Bahrain-Victorious’ leader Santiago Buitrago, who suffered concussion after his fall.

Together, the work of that trio in the peloton has brought the breakaway trio’s lead down a little, to 2:20.

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And an XDS Astana rider is too, doing their bit to defend Silva’s pink jerssey.

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The Unibet Rose Rockets rider is now contributing to the pace-setting.

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Thomas Silva, enjoying what has so far been a very comfortable day in the pink jersey.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Soudal are being more stingy than teams from previous stages, bringing the gap down to about 2:30 and keeping it pegged there.

2026-05-10T10:53:05.816Z

Soudal’s Bastiaens is doing all the work for now, but there’s a Unibet Rose Rockets rider behind hum. That suggests they believe Dylan Groenewegen can survive the climb to compete for the sprint today.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-10T10:43:30.161Z

Soudal-QuickStep have stepped up, putting Ayco Bastiaens at the front. They’re showing confidence that their man Paul Magnier can repeat his stage 1 sprint success.

And now it’s up to 3:45, as nobody in the peloton has taken responsibility to control it.

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The gap’s up to over three minutes.

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XDS Astana have placed two riders at the front of the peloton, but they’re not exactly setting a pace yet, allowing the gap to continue to grow.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

The leading trio already have a lead of 1:45, and that looks set to continue to grow.

2026-05-10T10:24:59.398Z

It’s very relaxed in the peloton, where riders are chatting with, rather than attacking, one another.

2026-05-10T10:22:14.600Z

No more attacks were forthcoming, and it seems we have our break of the day already.

2026-05-10T10:20:50.189Z

So far so familiar – Diego Pablo Sevilla and his Polti VisitMalta teammate Alessandro Tonelli have attacked with Bardiani’s Manuele Tarozzi attacked right from the gun, and have been allowed up the road.

And we’re off!

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We’re about to find out as the flag is about to be waved.

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So far at this Giro there have been no fights to get into the day’s break – will that be different today, now that the GC rankings have begun to take some shape, with many riders now well down on time already?

2026-05-10T10:14:14.467Z

Race leader Guillermo Thomas Silva at the start.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-10T10:07:49.750Z

Plovdiv is hosting today’s stage, and the riders are moving through its throngs of crowds now for the unofficial start.

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Adam Yates, battered and bruised at the end of yesterday’s stage. Remarkably, this is the first of the 17 Grand Tours he has competed in that he has failed to finish.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-05-10T09:58:36.748Z

Yates’ UAE team were easily the most ill-affected from that crash. Yates joins fellow climbers Jay Vine and Marc Soler in retiring, while their hopefuls for the stage yesterday, Antonio Morgado and Jhonatan Narváez, also went down. Today will be about recovering and regrouping, before they reassess how to approach this race with their depleted roster.