With Van Aert dropped, Mads Pedersen wins another stage and takes pink jersey after thrilling sprint against Corbin Strong

Stage three of the Giro d’Italia was the final one in Albania, starting and finishing in the coastal city of Vlorë. Sprinters had to wait until the race entered Italian territory for their first real chance, as the profile of this third stage offered them little hope. Just 50 kilometers from the finish lay the base of the Qafë e Llogarasë, a climb of 10.5 kilometers at an average gradient of 7.4%.

Despite this tough climb, Mads Pedersen — winner of the first stage — had high ambitions for the day. Lidl-Trek made it clear they were going all-in for their Danish leader. Besides aiming for the stage win, they had their eyes on the pink jersey as well. Pedersen was only one second behind Primoz Roglic after Saturday’s time trial, and thanks to time bonuses, even a podium spot could be enough to reclaim the overall lead.

Time trial winner Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) started the day full of confidence and launched an early attack. The Brit was joined by Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Chris Hamilton (Team Picnic PostNL), and Mark Donavan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling). Later, Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Alessandro Tonelli (Team Polti VisitMalta) bridged across from the peloton, where Jacopo Mosca, riding for Lidl-Trek, kept the breakaway on a short leash.

There wasn’t much stress in the peloton, but alertness remained essential. At one point, an excited goat suddenly ran across the road, forcing the back of the peloton to slam on the brakes. Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty) took a hard hit from the goat but impressively managed to stay upright. As a result, the peloton was spared any serious crashes.

With Lidl-Trek and RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe leading the chase, the breakaway’s lead gradually shrank. With 70 kilometers remaining, the gap dropped to just below two minutes. The day’s main climb wasn’t far off, and that was reflected in the rising pace. The riders were already climbing a non-categorized ascent of five kilometers at nearly seven percent. This was enough to drop the first riders from the peloton, including Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike). Up front, De Bondt was fighting to stay connected.

The toughest climb of the day — over ten kilometers at around 7.5% — was quickly approaching. It wouldn’t have looked out of place as a summit finish. Luckily for Pedersen, a long descent and flat section followed the summit. The Dane had already dropped most sprinters, who struggled on earlier climbs. The key question now was whether Pedersen could survive the climb himself, and whether his teammates could keep ambitious stage hunters within reach.

Pedersen’s team quickly took charge. Daan Hoole set a strong tempo, pushing up to 500 watts. The powerful rouleur couldn’t hold that pace for too long, and once he peeled off, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) attacked. The Basque rider was joined by James Knox (Soudal-Quick Step) and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana), two very strong climbers. The trio gradually reeled in the early breakaway. Meanwhile, the pace was too high for Wout van Aert in the peloton, who struggled to make an impact, similar to yesterday's stage.

Hamilton managed to hang on briefly with Bilbao and Fortunato, but eventually had to let the fresher duo go. The lead pair reached the top of the second-category climb with a 50-second gap. In the peloton, Tom Pidcock tried a small acceleration (but seemed to do so with limited confidence) at the 1-kilometer mark from the summit, and a still sizeable peloton began the descent.

During the descent, the peloton reduced the gap to Bilbao and Fortunato to 35 seconds. This made it nearly impossible for the lightweight climbers to hold their advantage on terrain that didn’t suit them. Lidl-Trek and RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe team cars acknowledged each other’s work, after which Lidl-Trek took full control. Bilbao and Fortunato were caught 18 kilometers from the finish.

What followed was a kind of ceasefire. Teams lined up their lead-out trains across the width of the road. It wasn’t slow by any means, with speeds hovering between 50 and 60 kilometers per hour. In the final 10 kilometers, the guys over at Bahrain-Victorious took the initiative.

In the final narrow kilometers, Pedersen’s purple points jersey was of course near the front, right behind his lead-out man Vacek. Tom Pidcock chose the wheel of the fast Dane. The riders had a close call in the finale as a dog crossed the road, but fortunately everyone stayed upright. Lidl-Trek was in the lead as we were heading into the final kilometer, with Pedersen in fourth position. Roglic, wearing pink, was also positioned at the front and out of harm's way.

Vacek launched the sprint early for team leader Pedersen, who in turn opened up the sprint first. Corbin Strong managed to draw level but lacked the power to overtake him. With his second win of this Giro, Pedersen also takes over the pink jersey from Roglic.