Tim Merlier wins a sprint that was almost frustrated by Tadej Pogacar

First stage, a priori, calm of this Giro d'Italia 2024 and that an insatiable Tadej Pogacar took care of making it not so in the final part. The Slovenian could not avoid the initially expected outcome and the day fell on the side of Tim Merlier in a tight sprint against Jonathan Milan.

Tadej Pogacar's hunger in the Giro d'Italia knows no limits

Transition stage in the Giro d'Italia 2024. After the two tremendously intense initial stages, the third would take the peloton from Novara to Fossano on a 165-kilometer route in which the first part of the peloton was dedicated to resting.

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Just a timid breakaway before the small 4th category climb that broke the monotony of the first third of the stage, led by Lilian Calmejane and Davide Ballerini who were caught after cresting the hill and scoring points for the mountain classification. Calm would return to the peloton until the passage through the first intermediate sprint where the acceleration for the fight for it caused splits in the peloton, leaving a numerous group of riders with names of very high quality in front, including some as remarkable as Girmay, Milan, Merlier, Caleb Ewan, Christophe Laporte or Matteo Trentin.

The peloton would not give them an option as it quickly reacted and soon brought down this dangerous move, so calm definitively returned to the race with the cyclists already thinking about the predictable sprint finish.

However, as is usual in the stages of the Giro, the final stretch had a small trap in the form of a climb, gentle but a climb after all, to reach Fossano. A climb that ended 3 km from the finish line and in the final part of which Mikkel Honore attacked trying to surprise, and yet it was Tadej Pogacar himself who surprised by sticking to his wheel and, in turn, Geraint Thomas did the same.

Seeing the gap opened, just a few seconds, Pogacar did not hesitate and started pulling like crazy, so much so that Thomas could barely give a couple of mini relays while Honore was dropped. It seemed that the Slovenian could pull off the surprise and so it was until just 250 m before the conclusion where the sprint launch, with a completely scattered peloton, neutralized the adventure.

A sprint in which Jonathan Milan started strong on the left side of the road. It seemed like he was going to win easily when, coming back on the opposite side of the road, a superb Tim Merlier appeared and managed to snatch the victory from the Italian by just half a wheel.

Stage 3 Classification

1. Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) 3h54'35"
2. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) +00"
3. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) +00"
4. Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +00"
5. Tobias Lund Andresen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) +00"
6. Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) +00"
7. Ethan Vernon (Israel-PremierTech) +00"
8. Stanis?aw Anio?kowski (Cofidis) +00"
9. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) +00"
10. Alberto Dainese (Tudor) +00"

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 11h03'02"
2. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +47"
3. Geraint Thomas (INEOS-Grenadiers) +47"
4. Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) +56"
5. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) +56"
6. Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana) +01'07"
7. Juan Pedro López (Lidl-Trek) +01'11"
8. Jan Hirt (Soudal-QuickStep) +01'13"
9. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) +01'26"
10. Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) +01'26"