Taco van der Hoorn has surprisingly won the third stage of the Giro d’Italia. After a ride of 190 kilometers between Biella and Canale, the Dutchman from Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert was the best from the early break. He was part of a leading group of eight, after which he finished the last nine kilometers solo. Davide Cimolai sprinted to second place in four seconds, ahead of Peter Sagan.
Two Dutch in flight
Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) was the instigator of the breakaway of the day. The Dutchman initially got six riders with him, including fellow countryman Lars van den Berg (Groupama-FDJ). Mountain jersey wearer Vincenzo Albanese, Samuele Rivi (EOLO-Kometa), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R Citroën), Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Samuele Zoccarato (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) also joined in. They were soon given a safe conduct.
Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec also sent Andrii Ponomar into the flight, but the 18-year-old driver from Ukraine was not immediately on the wheel. The youngest participant of this Giro had to pull out all the stops in rainy conditions, and got some help from Pellaud, to avoid a chasse potato. As a result, the leading group became eight men and got a maximum lead of more than six minutes from the peloton.
Lars van den Berg in the lead, left Taco van der Hoorn – photo: Cor Vos
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Van den Berg virtually in pink
Because Lars van den Berg was the best placed rider in the leading group, the Giro debutant from De Meern was the virtual wearer of the pink jersey for a long time. In the peloton, BORA-hansgrohe and Alpecin-Fenix worked to bring back the lead. On the first climb of the day to Piancanelli, where Albanese extended its lead by winning a sprint against Van den Berg and Pellaud, the difference was more than three minutes. In the peloton, Caleb Ewan, one of the outsiders, was already in trouble due to the pace of BORA-hansgrohe.
Pure sprints off the chin
In the technical descent of Piancanelli the nervousness already increased a bit, with a single crash as a result. The first sprinters also had to release on the Castino climb, including Ewan, Dylan Groenewegen, Tim Merlier and David Dekker. On the climb of the fourth category, most mountain points went back to Albanian after a sprint with Van den Berg, although the peloton had approached the remaining escapees to within two minutes at 40 kilometers from the finish.
On the Manera climb, Giacomo Nizzolo also had to let go of the peloton, unlike Fernando Gaviria. The Colombian was in Sagan’s wheel and apparently weathered the hill zone well. In the leading group, the mountain points on Manera went to Pellaud, ahead of Zoccarato and Albanese. Together with Van den Berg and Van der Hoorn, they were the only remaining early attackers who held out until the last twenty kilometers.
BORA-hansgrohe leads the pack – photo: Cor Vos
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Van der Hoorn and Pellaud hold out for a long time
The main hurdle in the final was not a categorized one. In Guarene, the last intermediate sprint of the day was on a hill of 2.6 km at about 7%. Of the five refugees, who had a one minute lead at the foot, Pellaud and Van der Hoorn were the strongest. They crossed the top together and took the bonus seconds away for the peloton. Just below the top came an attack by Tony Gallopin and Giulio Ciccone. The two drove away from the pack for 10 seconds, but did not immediately reach Pellaud and Van der Hoorn.
Ten kilometers before the finish, the two escapees were 25 seconds ahead of Gallopin and Ciccone, and 37 seconds ahead of the thinned peloton with sprinters like Sagan, Gaviria and also Elia Viviani. At the front, Van der Hoorn drove a tired Pellaud penalty at 8.8 kilometers from the finish. The speed rider thoroughbred of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert was solo all the time ahead of the pursuers and the peloton.
Nail biter: Taco van der Hoorn does it
Van der Hoorn extended his lead to one minute compared to the peloton, where Cofidis also put men in the lead in the service of Viviani. Jan-Willem van Schip’s housemate still had to survive a small pimple at five kilometers. In the background, Ciccone and Gallopin tried to make the crossing there. They came to within 20 seconds and the peloton, which had gained steam, caught up with them more than two kilometers before the finish, while Van der Hoorn was still ahead of it.
photo: Color Vos
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In a very exciting final phase, the UAE Emirates was leading. With an 18-second lead, Van der Hoorn, who did not have a WorldTour contract until December, entered the last kilometer and held up wonderfully. Four seconds after him, the sprint of the peloton was won by Davide Cimolai, ahead of Sagan, Viviani and Patrick Bevin. Gianni Vermeersch finished sixth.
Van der Hoorn’s victory also means the first season victory of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, the team that only offered him a contract in December when Van der Hoorn had just signed with the small BEAT Cycling after his departure from Jumbo-Visma.
Ganna keeps the pink
The leader’s jersey remains in the hands of Filippo Ganna, who crossed the finish line in the peloton. Edoardo Affini was missing there, so Tobias Foss is now the new number two in the standings at 16 seconds. Remco Evenepoel is third at 20 seconds.
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