Cavendish races to Giro stage win

Balatonfüred – Veteran Mark Cavendish won stage three of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday after launching a long sprint for the line at the end of a flat 201km run to Lake Balaton in Hungary.

Dutch ace Mathieu van der Poel retained the overall leader’s pink jersey as QuickStep’s Cavendish easily outpaced FDJ’s Arnaud Demare with Team UAE’s Fernando Gaviria coming third.

It was a 16th stage win on the Giro for the 36-year-old Cavendish, who is riding the Italian grand tour after a nine-year break.

“It’s never easy to win the first stage of a grand tour because it’s so chaotic,” Cavendish said.

“I’m happy, I love the Giro and racing here, so it’s great to be back.” –