The third stage of the Giro d’Italia was a long 198km from Grado to Valdobbiadene and with classic break aways caught by the peloton towards the end, Alessandro Petacchi showed impeccable timing again to take the third stage ahead of Tyler Farrar (Garmin) and Gavazzi (Lampre NGC).
In a stage again marred with crashes, Garmin Slipstream Team Captain Christain Vande Velde (Garmin) crashed and was sent to hospital and diagnosed with two broken ribs, severe contusion and sprain to his mid-back. Team mate Tyler Farrar claimed second place and also the white jersey from Cavendish who was caught behind a crash and had trouble returning back to the peleton.
The last kilometres were highlighted with breakaway attempts from Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre NGC) at 3km and later Visconti with just over a kilometre to the finish line only to be overtaken in the last stretch. Petacchi again demonstrated his skill in sprinting to take line victory a bike length ahead. Good news for Australian Michael Rogers of Team Columbia Highroad who held onto third place in the overall classifications as team mates Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish drop out from the top placings.
With the streets again lined with crowds, one of the tour highlights, Lance Armstrong commented on his performance, "I don’t know if it felt good. It actually hurt a little bit. We were just trying to stay out of trouble. We again had a dangerous circuit. The best place to be is in the front, if you can, to avoid crashes. I was not involved in a crash. I heard a couple but missed them all?thank goodness. "
Top Ten Results on Stage 3
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini 4.45.27 (41.618km/h)
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
3 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C.
4 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step
5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C.
6 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Silence-Lotto
7 Oscar Gatto (Ita) ISD
8 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad
9 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
10 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo
General Classification after Stage 3
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 8.50.06
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0.08
3 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad 0.18
4 Thomas L?vkvist (Swe) Team Columbia – Highroad
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0.31
6 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 0.40
7 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Astana 0.44
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
9 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) ISD 0.45
10 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C. 0.52
Website: Giro d’Italia
