Elia Viviani doubles up with Giro d'Italia 2018 stage three victory
The Italian beat Sacha Modolo into second place on the final stage in Israel
Elia Viviani (Quick-Step) took a second consecutive stage win at the 2018 Giro d'Italia on stage three, beating Sacha Modolo (EF Education-Drapac) into second and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) into third place.
Viviani benefited from an expert lead out by his Quick-Step team-mates on the run in to the finish in Eilat, and tracked Sam Bennett towards the line after the Irishman had launched first.
The Italian had too much speed for everyone though, and came down the right hand side of the road to take a third career victory at the Giro d'Italia.
Rohan Dennis (BMC) maintained the overall lead ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), with all the main GC contenders rolling in safely within the bunch.
How it happened
A long day awaited the riders on stage three, the final stage in Israel, with 229km from Be'er Sheva to Eilat.
The peloton were clearly happy to let a break get away, with King of the Mountains Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli) and Guillaume Boivin (Israel Cycling Academy) getting up the road, establishing a maximum gap of 6-50.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
From there the peloton rode with the break safely within reach, gradually bringing that gap down. But the trio admirably held on with 57 seconds from 26km to go around 18km to go.
With the speed up in the peloton as they chased the break, at just under 30km to go some riders were distanced off the back of the bunch including third place overall Victor Campanaerts (Lotto-Soudal), who failed to get back on.
More riders including Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida), fourth yesterday, were shed out the back in the final 12km.
The break were down to just 20 seconds with 10km to go, and Barbin was then caught with 7km to go, with the remaining pair caught with 5.7km remaining.
It was then down to the sprinters's teams, with Quick-Step driving the pace on within the final 5km, stretching the group into one long line.
As they approached the final 500m, Sam Bennett launched first after the bunch came around the final bend to the straight towards home.
He could clearly sense the presence of Viviani behind him as he moved to the right in front of the Italian, almost forcing him to the barriers. But the Irishman had launched to early, and Viviani was able to come through on the right side of the rode to steal a second stage victory.
Sacha Modolo was able to fight back after being forced to brake, pipping Bennett to second after the Bora man faded.
Monday will see the riders travel back to Italy, with 198km from Catania to Caltagirone in Sicily welcoming them when the race resumes on Tuesday with stage five.
Results
Giro d'Italia 2018 stage three: Be'er Sheva - Eilat (229km)
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 5-02-09
2 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac
3 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
5 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
6 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
7 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
8 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
9 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
10 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin, all same time
Overall classification after stage three
1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team, in 09-05-20
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 1s
3 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin, at 13s
4 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin, at 17s
5 Pello Bilbao (Esp) Astana Pro Team, at 19s
6 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 21s
7 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors, at 22s
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin, at 28s
9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, st
10 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar, at 29s
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Follow on Twitter: @richwindy
Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.
An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).
-
Unbound Gravel vs. UCI Gravel: How I'd set up my bike for gravel’s top races
I tried to make the ideal race steed for both ends of gravel cycling spectrum and got wonderfully lost in the details on the way there
By Logan Jones-Wilkins Published
-
Alpe d'Huez, Mont Ventoux, and all the route rumours for the 2025 Tour de France
Here's where the peloton may be heading next July
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Elia Viviani says helmet 'saved his life' in Paris-Roubaix crash
The Italian abandoned the race after 40km on Sunday, but left without any fractures
By Adam Becket Published
-
GB's Neah Evans claims stunning first world title on final day of Track World Championships
Great Britain finishes with 10 medals, after Madison silver and elimination race bronze
By Tom Davidson Last updated
-
Mark Cavendish wants to continue for 'at least' two more years
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprinter turns 37 this weekend
By Adam Becket Published
-
Elia Viviani outsprints the pack in wind-blown stage one of Tour de la Provence
The Ineos Grenadiers rider took his first victory since returning to the team
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Fabio Jakobsen on aiming for the Tour de France, lawsuit against Groenewegen and supporting Cavendish
The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider showed he is back to being one of the fastest sprinters around at the Vuelta a España
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Last updated
-
'My head was filled with doubts and insecurities but I'm ready to win sprints again': says Elia Viviani as he re-joins Ineos in 2022
The former Italian champion and Olympic gold medallist is confident he can get back to the top of sprinting
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published
-