Two out of three and in addition the pink jersey! Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek) wins the third stage of the Giro d'Italia, the Valona-Valona of 160 km, signs the double by beating New Zealander Corbin Strong (Israel Premier Tech) and Venezuelan Orluis Aular (Movistar) in a very tight sprint and returns to wear the pink jersey thanks to bonus seconds. The Danish rider, world champion in 2019, now leads the general classification with a 9" advantage over Roglic and 14" over Vacek.

In today's stage, the last one in Albania, many Italians certainly did not go unnoticed: Zambanini, Oldani, Vendrame, Marcellusi, Fiorelli and Scaroni, just to stop at the top 10.

THE RACE The start of the stage saw several riders try to escape the group's control, but at the eleventh kilometer of the race, the following riders managed to break away: yesterday's winner Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama - FDJ), Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Chris Hamilton (Team Picnic PostNL) who, about ten kilometers later, were joined by Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) and yesterday's most combative rider Alessandro Tonelli (Team Polti VisitMalta). A sextet of athletes was thus formed that quickly reached a 3'00" advantage over the group led by Lidl Trek of Mads Pedersen and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe of Primoz Roglic, leader of the general classification.

At the GJorm flying sprint, the order was Alessandro Tonelli (Team Polti VisitMalta), Mark Donovan (Q36.5) and Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). Still with the six attackers in the lead, they reached the first mountain grand prix won by Mark Donovan while Dries De Bondt conquered the first position at the Red Bull KM point. Riding the subsequent uphill section, the Belgian from Decathlon struggled and, also slowed by a puncture, lost the wheels of his breakaway companions and was soon caught by the pink jersey group in which Van Aert and many sprinters were also struggling.

The five remaining attackers played out the Gjilek sprint, but then slowed down and the peloton approached. It was then that Pello Bilbao (Bahrain - Victorious), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team) and Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) decided to launch themselves in pursuit of the breakaway and then catch them one by one.

Garofoli dropped, Fortunato and Bilbao remained in tandem at the front and the XDS Astana athlete climbed first at the Qafa and Llogarasë mountain grand prix taking the points needed to wear the blue jersey as climbing leader. With 18 kilometers to go, thanks to the joint action of Lidl Trek and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, the group definitively canceled any attack and moved compactly towards the finish.

In the final moments of the race, Mathias Vacek, wearing the white jersey as best young rider, worked perfectly for Pedersen (today in the cyclamen jersey) and the Dane, by winning, was able to wear the pink jersey he had lost yesterday by just one second.

Tomorrow the Giro d'Italia will rest and on Tuesday will restart from Alberobello towards Lecce for its fourth stage.

FINISH ORDER

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 PEDERSEN Mads Lidl - Trek 20 20" 07:42:10

2 ROGLIČ Primož Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 00:09

3 VACEK Mathias Lidl - Trek 00:14

4 MCNULTY Brandon UAE Team Emirates - XRG 00:21

5 AYUSO Juan UAE Team Emirates - XRG 00:25

6 DEL TORO Isaac UAE Team Emirates - XRG 00:26

7 POOLE Max Team Picnic PostNL 00:33

8 TIBERI Antonio Bahrain - Victorious 00:34

9 STORER Michael Tudor Pro Cycling Team 00:36

10 PELLIZZARI Giulio Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 00:40

Relive the stage by reading our live report HERE

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