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2015 Giro d'Italia: Michael Matthews simply the best on Stage 3

Michael Matthews was not happy with German rider John Degenkolb. (AP Photo/Gian Mattia D'Alberto)
Roar Guru
12th May, 2015
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Orica-GreenEDGE extended their lead in the general classification at the 2015 Giro d’Italia after victory to Michael Matthews in a short but gruelling third stage.

Despite some soft competition from Trek Factory Racing’s Fabio Felline, who finished the stage second, and third placed Philippe Gilbert of BMC Racing, who spent most of the day in the breakaway, Matthews emerged victorious at Sestri Levante.

It was a relatively easy day in the saddle for the majority of the Orica-GreenEDGE team after Simon Clarke and Esteban Chaves got involved in a large 20-man breakaway, allowing the team to rest up ahead of the reduced bunch sprint that decided the stage.

Clarke even improved his standing in the general classification during the day after taking out second place and some bonus seconds at both intermediate sprints behind Gilbert.

With the pressure largely off Orica-GreenEDGE, it was up to Tinkoff–Saxo to control the breakaway’s time gap. Despite a relatively hard day’s work at the front of the peloton, the Tinkoff-Saxo squad accomplished their task of protecting Alberto Contador with aplomb.

Just two days after the anniversary of eternal #108 Wouter Weylandt’s tragic death during the 2011 Giro d’Italia, AG2R Le Mondiale’s Domenico Pozzovivo had a second consecutive day of bad luck. Crashing hard during one of the descents the diminutive Italian was quickly surrounded by race doctors and paramedics to stabilise his condition before being sent off to hospital in an ambulance.

Meanwhile, Pavel Kochetkov of Team Katusha moved in to the Maglia Azzurra (blue jersey) of the King of the Mountains classification after being the first to conquer the Category 2 Barbagelata. The Russian rider now leads the classification by three points ahead of second placed Diego Ulissi of Lampre–Merida, who came across the summit in second.

Tomorrow continues to showcase the region of Liguria as Stage 4 sends the peloton on a 150-kilometre journey from Chiavari to La Spezia. It’s a stage that favours those who like the rough stuff, with several categorised and uncategorised climbs littering the parcours.

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Whether Matthews can hold on to the Maglia Rosa (pink jersey) of the general classification ahead of teammates Clarke or Simon Gerrans remains to be seen. The presence of the Category 3 climb of Biassa located just 10 kilometres from the finish line in the town of La Spezia arguably tilts the odds in Gerrans’ favour, but you cannot rule Matthews out after his Stage 3 performance.

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