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Please join us for live blogging of Stage three of the Giro d’Italia. Live coverage will begin at 19.35 AEST with comments being added to this post as the race progresses.
Stage two of the 2012 Giro d’Italia was a classic flat stage, with a three-man breakaway reeled in by an unforgiving peloton before a bunch sprint for the win.
Sprint juggernaut Mark Cavendish (Sky Pro Cycling) took stage honours and now leads in the points classification. Australian hopeful Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) finished second and Frenchman Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-Big Mat) crossed the line third.
The Manx Missile has a lot to thank his teammates for. The Sky team was instrumental in the chase and catch of the break: Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol), Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and Miguel Angel Rubiano (Androni Giocattoli).
The three escaped off the front early in the stage and built an advantage of around eight and a half minutes over the main peloton. Their lead gradually diminished and the trio was caught with 40km left to race. Lars Bak (Lotto Belisol) then rolled the dice by attempting a solo breakaway, but was quickly brought back into the fray. The stage was set for a sprint finish, and viewers were treated to a frantic one.
Despite a mechanical mishap eight kilometres from the finish of stage two, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) retains his overall lead in the general classification.
Stage three is a largely flat 190km journey that starts and finishes in Horsens, Denmark. It is comprised of three circuits around the Danish city. The first two, 45km and 100km in length respectively, are completed once. Riders must then complete the third 14.6km circuit three times.
It should be another day for the sprinters, but a category four climb at Ejer Bavnehoj (after 103km) leaves something there for an opportunistic climber or member of a breakaway group.
The stage also features one intermediate sprint at around the 90km mark in Hovedgard. It is likely to be won by a breakaway, but even a seemingly inconsequential couple of points could make a huge difference to a contender in the battle for points jersey.
The sprinters are again the men to watch.
Cavendish says he wants six stage wins at this year’s Giro and could easily record number two in Horsens. Goss looked to be in strong form in Herning and will look to go one better on stage three.
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