Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) captured his second sprint win in three days at the Giro d'Italia, triumphing in Sofia in a three-way photo finish at the end of the race's final day in Bulgaria.
The Frenchman, clad in the maglia ciclamino of points leader, jumped from the wheel of Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) in the final 150 metres to just about edge ahead and claim victory. Four-time Giro stage winner Milan had launched too early, 250 metres from the line, and ended up in second place. Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) jumped out of the wheel to grab third place at the death.
The sprint for the line was launched late, with the three-man break of the day only caught with 500 metres left to run of the 175km day. Lidl-Trek and Unibet Rose Rocket led it out, with Milan hitting the front first, but it was 22-year-old Magnier who came through to win again.
"I dreamed about it and it was the goal to go for a stage again. The team did an amazing job again," Magnier said after the stage.
"They controlled the day and we had a plan to be in a really good position with 1km to go and that's what we did.
"Then I wasn't really sure about winning the stage, to be honest. I celebrated and then I said 'Oh, I'm not sure', but in the end I won, so I'm really happy.
"Now I have to say that I feel really good and I feel I can be with the best sprinters in the world, so I can try to enjoy this moment and keep going like this with the team."
As a result of his win, Magnier extends his points lead with 105 points to Milan's 64. Stage 2 winner Thomas Silva (XDS-Astana) finished safely in the peloton to retain his overall lead, four seconds up on Florian Stork (Tudor) and Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos).
Paul Magnier celebrates his win with his Soudal-Quickstep teammates (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
Points leader Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quickstep) in the ciclamo jersey, race leader Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) in the maglia rosa and best young rider Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at the start in Plovdiv (Image credit: Getty Images)
Stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia marked the race's final day in Bulgaria, taking the peloton on a 175km run from the nation's second city of Plovdiv to its capital, Sofia.
Along the way, the riders would face just one categorised climb, the first second-category test of the race, Borovets Pass (9.2km at 5.3%), before heading back downhill to Sofia for an expected sprint finish.
For the third day in a row, Polti-VisitMalta sent two riders up the road from the very start. Mountains classification leader Diego Pablo Sevilla – also leading the intermediate sprint and fuga competitions – was there once again to bolster his lead in all three standings, while Alessandro Tonelli became his third different companion of the race so far.
The Italian ProTeam have already justified their wildcard invite, and fellow invitees Bardiani CSF-7 Saber also announced their presence at the race, placing Manuele Tarozzi in the break.
Polti VisitMalta riders Alessandro Tonelli and Diego Pablo Sevilla and Manuele Tarozzi (Team Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) in the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)
The trio raced to an advantage of almost four minutes in the early kilometres of the stage before a mixture of teams, including Soudal-QuickStep, XDS-Astana, and Unibet Rose Rockets, took responsibility for pacemaking at the head of the peloton and took the gap down to three minutes.
The situation remained the same on the gradual uphill run to the first intermediate sprint of the day at Dolna Banja after 86km of racing. Tarozzi led the way over the sprint, while back in the peloton, Jonathan Milan snapped up two points in fourth place.
The climb to Borovets Pass followed shortly afterwards, and the breakaway trio continued with a slightly reduced 2:30 lead. Blue jersey Sevilla led the race over the top for 18 points, taking his total to 42 for the race, well ahead of Tarozzi's 12 in second place.
XDS-Astana's Cristian Scaroni, meanwhile, jumped out of the peloton to take four points, possibly signalling his intention for the Giro. Out of the rear of the peloton, an ill Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) was dropped by over a minute on the way up as two teammates – Joshua Giddings and Jonas Rutsch – stayed back to help him.
A quick descent off the climb took the riders into the final 50km as the peloton, now with Lidl-Trek helping out at the front and with De Lie back in the fold, closed to within a minute of the break.
The long, slightly downhill run towards Sofia lay ahead, though little had changed in the situation on the run-in. Sevilla, Tonelli, and Tarozzi continued out front with an ever decreasing lead. That gap went under 30 seconds for the first time as they reached the final 15km, while 2km later, Tarozzi edged out Sevilla at the Red Bull Kilometre.
Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Rose Rockets) sets the pace at the front of the peloton (Image credit: Getty Images)
Behind them, the sprint teams, including Lidl-Trek and Unibet Rose Rockets, were organising at the head of the peloton as the race hit Sofia and the wide, straight highway that took up much of the final 10km. They held 20 seconds at the 5km mark and kept on battling, though their time was numbered.
The break lasted into the final kilometre, but they wouldn't quite make it to the finish line and were caught with around 500 metres left to run. Lidl and Unibet took over, ready to launch their sprinters to the finish line.
It was Milan who hit the front first, going at 250 to go with Magnier right in his wheel and Groenewegen third in line. After rounding the final gentle bend, Milan looked to slightly lose some momentum, leaving Magnier to pull alongside him and then push ahead in the closing metres.
Bike throw at the line for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quickstep) (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
