Davide Piganzoli believed in it until the very last meter, but he came just short of catching Pepijn Reinderink and battling for victory in the third stage of the 86th Skoda Tour de Luxembourg, the Wiltz - Diekirch route of 179.6 km. The Valtellina rider from Visma Lease a Bike had to settle for second place but consoled himself by claiming the leader's jersey in the general classification: his performance was nonetheless excellent, as he made the difference on the côtes that characterized the final part of the stage and showed no fear in chasing down the breakaway leader, the last survivor of a large group of attackers, in pursuit of victory.

For his part, Dutch rider Reinderink celebrates his first professional victory and completes a great day for Soudal Quick Step, which had already scored with Merlier on Belgian roads.

In the general classification, Piganzoli leads with a 6" advantage over Gachignard, 9" over Vercher, 18" over Arrieta and 32" over Aurélien Paret-Peintre. Tomorrow's program features the fourth stage, a 20.4 km time trial starting and finishing in Ettelbruck.

STAGE RESULTS

1. Reinderink Pepijn (Soudal Quick-Step) in 04:07:30
2. Piganzoli Davide (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) + 01
3. Gachignard Thomas (Team TotalEnergies)
4. Vercher Mattéo (Team TotalEnergies) + 04
5. Arrieta Igor (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 11
6. Oomen Sam (Lidl-Trek) + 17
7. Behrens Eike (Team Lotto-Kern Haus Outlet Montabaur) + 23
8. Paret-Peintre Aurélien (Decathlon CMA CGM Team)
9. Graat Tijmen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) + 38
10. Nerurkar Lukas (EF Education-EasyPost) + 01:10