🎥 Giro teams reveal just how insane the start in Albania was, including the remarkable journey on the 'rest day'

The riders' journey was/is relatively short. They were driven to a hotel on Sunday after the third stage before flying from Tirana to Italy early on Monday afternoon. They had to wait for a bus transfer to a new hotel there. "They will arrive there at 3 PM local time," predicted Jayco-AlUla team leader Valerio Piva in a video. "It will be a tough day, with a long journey and not much rest," said Wout van Aert.

Some of the staff members of the various teams always travel with the riders, but some also traveled by car or bus on Sunday evening to the port in Vlora, where they took an overnight ferry to Brindisi. They arrived there on Monday at 7 AM local time. For the heavier trucks, another boat trip was planned from Durrës, arriving at 9 AM local time in Bari. From there, they continued their journey to the various hotels.

The various teams naturally took out their cameras to capture the rather bizarre crossing to Italy. Monday will be a rest day before the peloton starts the fourth stage on Tuesday, starting in Alberobello and finishing in Lecce, in the Puglia region. Normally, this will be the first real bunch sprint of this Giro.

It won't be the last long transfer in this Giro d'Italia, although it will mainly involve bus travel from now on. But on the final day, there will be a charter flight from northern Italy to Rome, where the final stage will be held on Sunday, June 1.