Giro d'Italia: Viviani takes second consecutive sprint victory

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Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) took his second consecutive sprint win at the Giro d'Italia during stage 3 in Eilat, using his bike skills to push back as Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) tried to close the door along the barriers.

Viviani used his arm to bump the Irishman in defence of his space and then kicked past him to win the sprint. Sacha Modolo (EF Education First-Drapac) came through to take second, while Bennett took third and avoided any relegation for dangerous riding.

Rohan Dennis (BMC) kept the race leader's pink jersey after finishing in the peloton and surviving the nervous finale in the Negev desert. Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Fix All) lost time in the finale and so Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) is second at one second. José Gonçalves (Katusha-Alpecin) moved up to third at 13 seconds.

Dennis will take the maglia rosa with him to Sicily on the rest-day Monday after the three opening stages in Israel. The racing continues on Tuesday with a 198km stage to Caltagirone.

A fear of crosswinds

The 229km stage started under the sun in Be'Er Sheva but with riders worried about possible crosswinds and so echelons, splits in the peloton and a battle amongst the overall contenders later in the day near the finish in Eilat.

Perhaps due to their fears, Guillaume Boivin (Israel Cycling Academy), Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF) were allowed to go clear as soon as the flag dropped to signal the start of the stage.

They quickly pushed out their lead to 7:20 before the BMC team took to the front in defence of Rohan Dennis' pink jersey and overall race lead.

As the race entered the Negev desert, the race settled, with the trio riding together but then fighting for the intermediate sprints and on the only climb of the day. There were some crowds along the roadside at different kibbutz and villages, but the desert camels out numbered them on the barren moon-look landscape. Riders drank bidon after bidon to stay hydrated, but temperatures were bearable.

Boivin was on the attack for the second day and was still aggressive. He jumped away to win the first intermediate sprint after 45km and again after 77km to take the second intermediate sprint. Behind, Viviani won the main field sprint for fourth place to take six points in defence of the ciclamino points jersey.

Barbin to wear blue mountain jersey on home soil

Boivin, Barbin and Frapporti approached the day's only categorised climb, a category 4, at Faran River.

Barbin and Frapporti seemed to work over Boivin, knowing that Boivin had to win the sprint to take the blue climber's jersey from Barbin. Frapporti attacking alone 1.5km from the summit, forcing Boivin to chase. Barbin sat on his wheel and then jumped past to take the three points.

Barbin thus kept his lead of the mountain competition with a total of five points, while Frapporti and Boivin both have three points. The Italian will wear the blue jersey on home soil, after the rest day, at the start of stage 4 in Catania on Tuesday.

A game of cat and mouse

The peloton played cat and mouse with the break all stage, letting them push out to five minutes before pulling them back under control.

The peloton was always worried about possible crosswinds, and the big-name team leaders were still carefully protected. However, the wind never blew strong enough to cause any real splits. The desert dust caused some punctures, but the wide roads meant there were no crashes.

The race covered vast exposed roads and twisting climbs and descents across the Negev desert but the race situation stayed the same with the trio spending over 200km out front.

The speed rose gradually in the final 50km as the prospect of a sprint was confirmed and so did the sense of nervousness in the peloton. The riders stayed packed together, protecting their team leaders from the slight crosswinds.

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