Thomas on the up after steering clear of trouble
STAGE three of the Giro d’Italia may have been a pretty flat 148km from Tortoli to Cagliari but it burst to life with just 10 left and saw Geraint Thomas climb into 11th in the overall standings, writes Andy Howell.
Riders knew what was coming with strong winds having been forecast and it was clear nerves were jangling among the stars who have an eye on wearing the pink winner’s jersey into Milan in three week’s time.
The tension resulted in a fierce scrap for a position near the front as they approached the exposed coastline near the capital of Sardinia with gusts in excess of 30mph predicted to cause chaos.
Everybody knew what was coming and it duly did as the cross-winds blew the peloton to pieces. Six riders from Belgium super-team QuickStep Floors broke clear and took four others with them as gaps opened in the peloton.
Pink jersey wearer Andre Greipel was initially with them but nearly fell after running into another rider.
“I managed to stay on the bike but I couldn’t get my foot back into the pedal quick enough and the selection was made,” said the German powerhouse.
“This is sport and that’s what also makes it so interesting. Everybody knew what was going to happen with the wind blowing so strongly.”
Thomas had spotted the danger of fellow general classification contender Bob Jungels being in the front group and the opportunity to gain time on other favourites.
Wales’ twice Olympic track champion attempted to cross the gap and joined forces with Greipel but it was a forlorn chase and the pair had to wait for reinforcements from behind before organising a chase with race favourite Nairo Quintana (Movistar), defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), British climber Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) and the other major overall contenders finishing in that depleted second group of riders.
They managed to limit their losses to 13 seconds at the end as Team Sky leader Thomas finished 25th to move into 11th in the overall standings, 23 seconds down on new leader Fernando Gaviria.
Luxembourg champion Jungels said: “Sometimes, anticipating is much better than reacting. Everybody was nervous but we had a plan to do what we did.”
Colombian sprint sensation Gaviria was much too quick for Germany’s Rudiger Selig (Bora-Hansgrohe) in the sprint with Trek-Segafredo’s Italian champion Giacomo Nizzolo third and Australian Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) fourth.
Gaviria is nine seconds ahead of stage two winner Greipel in the overall standings with Austrian Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), surprise victor of the opening stage, in third at 13 seconds.
“We wanted a win before the rest day and it’s an enormous joy because of the work of the team,” said Gaviria, as he celebrated his maiden stage triumph in a Grand Tour.
But he’s unlikely to be wearing the pink jersey after stage four, which finishes on the active volcano of Mount Etna in Sicily and is expected to see some serious action from GC contenders like Thomas.