Giro Rosa (st. 3)

Neylan, Merino -affected by pile-up into final lap-, Rodríguez and García fall during stage three of the Giro; Mavi, Biannic, Jasinska delayed by 25" from reduced elite group.

Former Belgian champion Jolien D’hoore (MTS) won Sunday’s bunch sprint on stage three of the 2018 Giro Rosa, a long, scorching circuit race -eight laps, 132kmkm- in Corbetta, in the outskirts of Milan. The nerves were high into a stage long led by a three-woman break with Penton (TVC), Perini (TOP) and Cipriani (CZF), a late gallop by the sprinters’ teams leading to an important crash inside the final lap.

After previous incidents affecting Gloria Rodríguez (crash) and Mavi García (foot to the ground after being hit from behind), two Movistar Team riders went down into a pile up leaving only 50 riders at the front: Eider Merino and Rachel Neylan. Fortunately, and just like their team-mates, the two Blues just suffered minor scratches, though, like Rodríguez and Llamas, they were left out of a leading group which Jasinska, García and Biannic came 25″ behind.

‘Jasi’, 1’40” back, and Mavi, 1’41” behind, remain as the top Movistar Team riders overall, with Leah Kirchmann (SUN) now in pink. Monday will bring the last flat stage before the mountains, with 109km in yet another loop around Piacenza.