Australia’s Michael Matthews has ended his eight-year losing streak by winning stage three of the 106th Giro d’Italia. The 32-year-old from the Jayco AlUla team prevailed on the home stretch in the expected sprint duel against the Dane Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and secured his first day’s victory in the Tour of Italy since 2015. On the 216 km from the coastal town of Vasto Melfi inland, the Germans played no role.
overall leader remains Evenepoel
Lennard Kämna (Bora-hansgrohe), who wants to compete for the overall ranking for the first time in Italy, crossed the finish line with the peloton. Remco Evenepoel was also one of them, with the Belgian road world champion defending his lead in the overall classification. After a flat start, the first difficult climb separated the field, Pedersen also fell back from the leading group at first, but fought his way back up. On the home straight, there was a duel between the sprint stars Matthews and former world champion Pedersen, which the Australian won. It was his third stage win overall at the Giro.
First big touchstone awaits
The first major touchstone awaits the peloton on Tuesday. The fourth, 175km stage from Venosa to Lago Vaceno east of Naples travels inland via three category 2 climbs towards the west coast, where a tricky mountain before the finish will push the riders to their limits. The second most important cycling national tour after the Tour de France ends after 3489.2 km on May 28th in Rome.
| stage/date | length | Start and finish location |
|---|---|---|
1st stage – 06.05.2023 | 19.6 km | Fossacesia-Ortona (time trial); Winner R. Evenepoel |
Stage 2 – 05/07/2023 | 201 km | Teramo – San Salvo; Winner J Milan |
Stage 3 – 05/08/2023 | 216 km | Vasto-Melfi; Winner: M Matthews |
Stage 4 – 05/09/2023 | 175 km | Venosa-Lake Laceno |
Stage 5 – 05/10/2023 | 171 km | Atripalda-Salerno |
Stage 6 – 05/11/2023 | 162 km | Naples – Naples |
Stage 7 – 05/12/2023 | 218 km | Capua-Gran Sasso d’Italia (mountain arrival) |
Stage 8 – 05/13/2023 | 207 km | Terni-Fossombrone |
Stage 9 – 05/14/2023 | 35 km | Savignano sul Rubicone – Cesena (time trial) |
Rest day – 05/15/2023 | ||
Stage 10 – 05/16/2023 | 196 km | Scandiano-Viareggio |
Stage 11 – 05/17/2023 | 219 km | Camaiore-Tortona |
Stage 12 – 05/18/2023 | 179 km | Bra-Rivoli |
Stage 13 – 05/19/2023 | 207 km | Borgofranco d’Ivrea – Crans Montana (mountain arrival) |
Stage 14 – 05/20/2023 | 193 km | Sierre-Cassano Magnago |
Stage 15 – 05/21/2023 | 195 km | Seregno-Bergamo |
Rest day – 05/22/2023 | ||
Stage 16 – 05/23/2023 | 203 km | Sabbio Chiese-Monte Bondone (mountain arrival) |
Stage 17 – 05/24/2023 | 195 km | Pergine Valsugana – Caorle |
Stage 18 – 05/25/2023 | 161 km | Oderzo-Val di Zoldo (mountain arrival) |
Stage 19 – 05/26/2023 | 183 km | Longarone – Tre Cime Lavaredo (mountain arrival) |
Stage 20 – 05/27/2023 | 18.6 km | Tarvisio-Monte Lussari Tudorg (time trial) |
Stage 21 – 05/28/2023 | 135 km | Rome – Rome |