Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel won stage three of Tirreno-Adriatico today. Photo: Supplied
Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel won stage three of Tirreno-Adriatico today.
The stage ended in an uphill finish in the Umbrian town of Gualdo Tadino and Van der Poel proved the strongest, powering past overnight leader Wout van Aert to take victory.
Davide Ballerini finished third.
“I was thinking about myself, about my mistake yesterday. I was really happy to take the win,” Van der Poel said.
When a breakaway that formed just three kilometres after the start of the 219km stage in Monticiano was reeled in with less than three kilometres to go, Van der Poel was badly positioned, as he had been the day before when he finished third behind Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe and Belgian Van Aert.
This time, Van der Poel had moved close to the head of the pack by the time Zdenek Stybar accelerated away in the final kilometre. The Czech had appeared to be leading out his Deceuninck Quick Step teammate Alaphilippe, who did not accelerate, creating an instant gap.
Van Aert of Jumbo-Visma gave chase with Van der Poel on his wheel. As Van Aert caught the Czech, Van der Poel pounced.
“I was surprised by the move by Alaphilippe, which was kind of smart,” said van Aert.
“But if I still wanted the victory I had to react, and unfortunately I took Mathieu on my wheel, which was at that point a waste of energy.”
Van der Poel, who punched the air as he crossed the line in 5:24:18 at the end of the longest stage of the seven-day race, agreed that he had gained from Stybar’s break.
“Wout immediately reacted, otherwise it could have been dangerous, but I think I did the right thing by waiting,” he said.
“It was a really hard sprint, it went uphill a bit, and after such a long stage today, yeah, it hurt,” he said.
While Van der Poel took a 10-second time bonus for his win, Van Aert picked up six seconds for his runner-up finish and kept the race lead.
The 26-year-old leads his rival by four seconds, with stage two winner Alaphilippe third overall at 19 seconds.
Saturday’s stage four will see the riders start in Terni and finish on the summit of Prati di Tivo some 148km later.
Stage three results:
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 5:24:18
2. Wout van Aert (BEL) Jumbo-Visma
3. Davide Ballerini (ITA) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo
5. Greg van Avermaet (BEL) AG2R Citroën Team
6. Jasper de Buyst (BEL) Lotto Soudal
7. Ivan Garcia Cortina (ESP) Movistar Team
8. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates
9. Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (ESP) Movistar Team
10. Hugo Hofstetter (FRA) Israel Start-up Nation
GC standings after stage three:
1. Wout van Aert (BEL) Jumbo-Visma 14:01:47
2. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 0:04
3. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:10
4. Mikel Landa Meana (ESP) Bahrain Victorious 0:19
5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:20
6. Robert Stannard (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:20
7. João Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:20
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo 0:20
9. Jasper de Buyst (BEL) Lotto Soudal 0:20
10. Patrick Konrad (AUT) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20
