photo credits @ Giro d’Italia
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) claimed stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia today, beating Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) by half a wheel length in sprint finale in Tirana, Albania, earning the Danish rider not only the day’s honors, but also regaining him the Maglia Rosa.
Pedersen started his sprint early, while Strong closely marked his move. But, the Aussie proved no match for the Dane’s acceleration, while Orluis Aular (Movistar) took the final spot on the podium.
Today’s stage saw over 2900 meters in altitude gain, with a small breakaway group of six riders escaping the peloton early on.
However, the group was eventually whittled down to just Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), Chris Hamilton (Picnic PostNL) and Alessandro Tonelli (Team Polti VisitMalta), who were later joined by Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team) on the day’s final climb of the Qafa e Llogarasë, with the latter of the five riding clear before the summit.
Meanwhile, Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek team kept things under control, later reining the escapees with 18km to go.
From there, things began shaping up into an inevitable sprint showdown, with Lidl-Trek moving Pedersen into perfect position to snatch the victory.
