Giro d’Italia stage 3 – Stay protection

My colleague Barry Ryan weaves Hungarian poetry, rider reactions, and astute race-reading into our first GC analysis piece of this Giro. 

Early pace set by Simon Yates but Giro d’Italia remains a marathon

Van der Poel rocks up to sign-on

Before we get going, now’s the time to catch up on yesterday’s action. Full report, results, and photos from stage 2 in the link below. 

Giro d’Italia: Simon Yates edges Van der Poel to win stage 2 time trial

There’s Girmay, wearing the maglia ciclamino (which is looking a little light in shade and dangerously close to the maglia rosa in that shot). The points classification leader is Van der Poel but he’s in pink so Girmay wears this one on loan. 

Cavendish will face stiff competition from Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) today. The Australian took a tumble in the finale of the opening stage but showcased his form by being up there at the end of the climb. Race leader Mathieu van der Poel could legitimately challenge but insists he’s working for Alpecin-Fenix sprinter Jakub Mareczko, while Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) should be in contention after being edged out by Van der Poel on that opening day. 

Other fast finishers here include Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), and Alberto Dainese (DSM). 

Mark Cavendish there on the podium. This is his first Giro in nine years. He already has 15 stage wins to his name here – can he add to that today?

The riders are signing on under grey skies in Kaposvar. The roll-out is coming up at 12:25 local time and we have a lengthy neutral zone today so the race proper will kick off at 12:40. 

Hello there and welcome along to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of the 2022 Giro d’Italia. Stage 3 today, and the final day on Hungarian soil before the race transfers to Italy on Monday. It’s a long 201km stage but is largely flat and is widely expected to culminate in a bunch sprint along the shores of Lake Balaton.