By Lukas Knöfler | Cycling News
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia Women, outsprinting Josie Nelson (Picnic PostNL) in Trento after being led out by her teammate Lotte Kopecky.
The final was interrupted by a mass crash in a roundabout with 2.5km to go that happened near the front of the peloton, leaving only ten riders at the front.
Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck) made the most of the chaos and got a small gap on the streets of Trento. But Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) reeled in the Austrian and then handed off to Kopecky for the lead-out that Wiebes had no trouble finishing off.
Due to the 3km rule, all riders involved in the crash received the same time as Wiebes, meaning that Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek) keeps the pink jersey.
“We were very lucky that we were in front when the crash happened and that we were still with three of us. Barbara did a great job to bring us to the corner. Lotte also did also amazing; I was a bit scared for the last corner, I felt my wheel slipping a bit, but I was able to save it,” said Wiebes after the stage.
“I would have liked more to go to the finish with a complete peloton, but that’s also part of racing, and you can expect it with the rain. Everyone in the team did really well the whole day, and it’s nice to finish it off, also for them,” Wiebes finished.
The stage started in Vezza d’Oglia, immediately heading uphill towards the Passo del Tonale. Usoa Ostolaza (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) attacked just before the mountain sprint after 17.5km to win the Cima Alfonsina Strada, the highest point of the eight-day race, and take the blue mountain jersey.
The rest of the 122km stage was almost entirely downhill or flat. Nora Jenčušová (BePink-Imatra-Bongioanni) attacked with 85km to go, and Petra Zsankó (Ceratizit) went on the chase six kilometres later.
Jenčušová was 53 seconds ahead of Zsankó at the intermediate sprint in Cles. 1:14 minutes behind the leader, Marlen Reusser (Movistar) won the peloton’s sprint for the remaining two bonus seconds.
As the race reached the Adige Valley, the peloton brought back Zsankó with 31km to go, and Jenčušová was reeled in 23km from the finish. The sprinters’ teams controlled the race, and there were no further attacks as everybody got ready for a mass sprint.
However, it started to rain in the final, and on the wet roads, a Fenix-Deceuninck rider slid out in a roundabout with 2.5km to go. This started a chain reaction that brought down many more riders, only leaving eight riders at the front.
Schweinberger got a gap because of the crash, but Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ) and Guarischi chased her down, closing the gap on the final kilometre. Wiebes won the sprint by a bike length ahead of Nelson, with Kopecky rolling to third place after leading out her teammate.
Riders who were held up by the crash finished in smaller or larger groups, but all received the winner’s time as the crash happened in the last three kilometres.
