Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) won the sprint on Monday on the 3rd stage of the Giro in Melfi. He beat Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
In the only two difficulties of the day (6.3 km at 6.4%, then 3.1 km at 6.1%), placed about thirty kilometers from the line, the Australian’s Jayco AlUl team set a strong pace to eliminate his opponents in the sprint, Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious), winner on Sunday, Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education-EasyPost) in particular.
Two listed climbs taken in the lead by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ). The Frenchman attacked in the last hectometres of the two climbs to take the lead in the mountain classification. With 12 points, he is ahead of two other Frenchmen: Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroën) and Thomas Champion (Cofidis).
A time dropped in the two difficulties, Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) worked to review the peloton and disputed the sprint in Melfi. Perfectly led by his training in the tortuous final, the Dane failed to come back to Michael Matthews, who left 200 meters away. At the end of the race, the Australian sprinter managed to reward the work of his training.
The favorites remain discreet
On a slippery surface, the favorites for the final victory took no risks in the final. 9 kilometers from the line, in a sprint for the bonus, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick Step) beat his direct opponent Primoz Roglic and grabbed 3 seconds of bonuses, one more than the Slovenian.
The leader of the Dutch team points this Monday evening to third place in the general classification after the failure in the final climbs of Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), runner-up in the pink jersey at the start and now 121st, 15’36 from the champion of the world.