Giacomo Nizzolo's day at Tirreno-Adriatico didn't get off to a great start on Friday during the 224km third stage from Pomerance to Foligno when he crashed in the opening half of the race. The 2016 Italian champion recovered well, however, finishing fourth in a bunch sprint won by countryman Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) as his torn jersey revealed the damage from earlier in the day.
Nizzolo (Dimension Data) fell hard on his left shoulder and side, temporarily stopping alongside the road to gather himself before determining he could go on. Once he made contact with the peloton, his teammate Ben King helped to guide him back to the front of the peloton before Reinardt Janse van Rensburg dug deep in the final three kilometres to set up the team's chances.
The technical finale suited Viviani and runner-up Sagan, however, as the duo fought for the win ahead of Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and NIzzolo. In the end, Viviani got the win, while Sagan hung on for second and Gaviria got third. Nizzolo's fourth place was a good result for the 30-year-old after a long day in the saddle.
After he crossed the line and made it back to the team bus, inflammation in Nizzolo's elbow caused concern, and the rider was taken for X-rays that revealed he had no broken bones. Team physician Dr. Christopher Edler confirmed the relatively good news.
"Giacomo sustained a fair amount of bruising to his elbow and shoulder on his left side," Edler said. "We were concerned with the swelling around his elbow and a possible fracture. Fortunately, the X-rays of his left elbow and shoulder revealed no fractures. Giacomo will be able to start tomorrow’s stage.”
Saturday's fourth stage take the Tirreno-Adriatico peloton 223km from Foligno to Fossombrone.
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