photo credits @ Giro d’Italia
After three stages, the Giro d’Italia arrived on Italian soil today, with Casper Van Uden claiming the day’s honors in a sprint finale in Lecce, edging out fellow countryman Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), followed by Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) and race leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) at the end of today’s 189-kilometer route.
Pedersen has forced to overcome a late entanglement that saw the Danish rider’s teammate Søren Kragh Andersen go down with 20km to go, later fighting his way back to the front to retain his grip on the Maglia Rosa.
Meanwhile, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) axed two seconds off Pedersen’s lead at the Red Bull sprint, but the Dane still leads the Italian Grand Tour by seven seconds over his Slovenian rival.
Earlier, Francisco Munoz (Team Polti-VisitMalta) went on a solo breakaway, later opening up a sizable advantage of around four minute along the coastal terrain. However, the Spanish rider was reined in with 57km to go.
With 7km remaining, teams began amassing at the front with the goal of moving their respective sprinters into place as they rounded the final finishing circuit in Lecce.
Tudor Pro Cycling Team moved to the front with 6km left, as did Decathlon-AG2R and Ineos-Grenadiers.
However, 3km out, Alpecin-Deceuninck came to the fore, along with Visma-Lease a Bike.
Heading into the final few hundred meters, sprinters began unleashing their accelerations, with Van Uden emerging as the unlikely winner after fending-off Kooij in a mad dash for the line.
