As it happened: Points jersey reclaims pink with Giro d'Italia stage 3 victory

Buongiorno, hello and welcome to our live coverage of the  stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia.

Today's stage is 160km on a long, hilly loop south of Valona. It should inspire some great racing.

As always, Cyclingnews will have the best, most detailed live updates from the race, including all the pre-race build-up and latest news and then the post-race reaction, results and analysis. 

Alasdair Fotheringham and James Moultrie are on the ground in Albania, with our global team providing 24 hour coverage. 

Stage 2 was intense and thrilling, with a close battle for the stage win and for the GC placings. Read our full stage report for all the details on what happened.

Giro d'Italia: Josh Tarling wins stage 2 time trial as Primož Roglič takes over maglia rosa

To look back at our live coverage of stage 2, to see how the racing developed and the GC battle emerged, click below. There were crashes, spills and high-speed suffering in Tirana.

As it happened: Giro d’Italia race lead changes hands after explosive stage 2 time trial

Roglič is already in pink and already the reference point for the GC battle. 

Read Alasdair Fotheringham's GC analysis to understand what it means.

Giro d'Italia GC analysis: after two stages, Primoz Roglič is already the reference point

Primoz Roglič was not expecting to pull on the pink jersey.  His performance and time gains surprised him and fired a warning shot to his GC rivals. 

'It's a big surprise' - Primoz Roglič strikes first in Giro d'Italia GC battle to take race lead

Today's stage heads to the south of Albania via a long loop. The 160km stage includes los of hills inland but also a flat and then final coast road after the key Qafa e Llogarasë climb.

This is how we described the stage in our stage 3 preview page. 

Starting and ending in Vlorë (Valona), the hilly route is essentially a loop around the Maja Qores, which rises to over 2,000 metres near the Adriatic coast. 

The riders will head southeast along the Lumi Shushicës valley on a constant uphill leading to category 4 Qafa Shakellës pass, cresting at the 65km mark. A quick descent to the sea is followed by roughly 40 kilometres on rolling, twisty roads along or near the coast.

The Red Bull kilometre, with six, four and two time bonus seconds on offer, comes with 71km to go. If the peloton is still together, expect the Lidl-Trek team to launch Pedersen to nab those seconds.

The final major obstacle is the ascent of Qafa e Llogarasë, an 10.7km cat. 2 climb with gradients exceeding 7%, which comes within the final 39 km. 

A flat final 25 km could allow any chasing groups a chance to reel in late attackers before the finish in Vlorë (Valona). The finish is flat and fast, with a dead straight final kilometre.

Depending on how the climb is tackled, it could open opportunities for a breakaway, a long-range attack, or even set the stage for another sprint finish.

It is another bright and sunny day in Albania as the riders go to sign on and line up in front of the crowd in Vlorë.

The temperature today is currently 23°C but the weather does look like it could be turning by the middle of the week in Italy with rain forecast to hit around Wednesday. 

Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is all set for the third stage of the Giro and his first in pink this year. 

Just around 10 minutes until the riders roll out on the neutral zone of the third stage. 

Neutral start

The riders have set off in the neutralised section of the stage. 

Puncture

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

The Spanish rider has an early problem in the neutral zone. 

Just 2km to the official start as the riders ride through the finish line before they head out on the race route with plenty of climbing on the way. 

Radio issues

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

The second problem of the day for one of the big pre-race favourites for the race overall. 

160km to go

The race begins on stage three of the Giro d'Italia 2025. The last stage in Albania. And immediately the attacks come.  

The early moves don't get anywhere as the likes of Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Matthias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) do the early policing for their leaders. 

Attack!

Four riders get a gap. 

The break:

Mattia Bais (Polti-VisitMalta)
Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Badiani CSF-Faizane)
Fausto Masnada (XDS-Astana)
Dries De Bondt (Dcathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)

However, more riders are coming across including Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), interestingly. 

Lots of riders flying off the front but so many are trying to force the break there isn't much of a split happening. 

A very large group have a split from the front of the peloton with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) included in this bunch. Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) follows the latest move by Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ). 

Tarling and Germani are joined by Chris Hamilton (Picnic-PostNL) and a rider from Q36.5 as the large split has been dragged back by the peloton. 

Counter attack

Alessandro Tonelli (Polti-VisitMalta)

He launches to try and join the four leaders but the chase is on in the peloton.

Leaders:

Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers)
Mark Donovan (Q36.5)
Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ)
Chris Hamilton (Picnic-PostNL)

Tonelli is joined by De Bondt off the front of the peloton as they continue to try and join the leaders. 

150km to go

The chasing duo are 12" back with the peloton at 33". 

Attack

Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis)

The blue jersey tried to bridge across on his own but was swiftly dragged back. 

Attack

Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane)

This is the breakaway expert's third attempt to get into the break and he appears to have a gap. 

Marcellusi has been caught. Tonelli and De Bondt aren't closing in on the four leaders too much, either. 

And the breakaway is allowed to go. The peloton is spread across the road and the leaders now have over a minute. This is good news for Tarling, Donovan, Germani, Hamilton, Tonelli and De Bondt. 

Tonelli and De Bondt are struggling to close the 37" gap to the four leaders. This is very tough for them as the leading four are really pushing still. 

Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are sharing the pacing in the peloton. Meanwhile, De Bondt and Tonelli are about to make contact with the four leaders after a furious chase. 

And the leading group of four becomes a group of six as Dries De Bondt and Alessandro Tonelli make it across with 133km to go. 

130km to go

There's 4km to go to the first intermediate sprint of the day in Gjorm. 

The peloton are now riding along at a good pace and they appear to have pinned the gap at around 2'40" to 2'45" with Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek), Gianni Moscon (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) doing the bulk of the work. 

Intermediate sprint (Gjorm)

1. Alessandro Tonelli (ITA) Polti-VisitMalta 12pts
2. Mark Donovan (GBR) Q36.5 8pts
3. Dries De Bondt (BEL) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale 5pts
4. Lorenzo Germani (ITA) Groupama-FDJ 3pts
5. Chris Hamilton (AUS) Picnic-PostNL 1pt

De Bondt is refusing to work in the break for some reason. Not sure why the formr Belgian champion is doing it unless he is still suffering from the big chase to join the leaders with Tonelli. 

120km to go

The gap is now at 2'51" as a herd of goats run across the road and almost took out a rider from Intermarche-Wanty. Fortunately, no riders or goats were harmed. 

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have the whole team at the front of the peloton with just one Lidl-Trek rider. 

110km to go

The peloton have allowed the break's gap to go above three minutes but this six man group are not likely to go all the way at all. 

Here is the scary moment for Dion Smith (Intermarche-Wanty) and the goat a few minutes ago... 

Just over 2km to the base of the first categorised climb of the day, the q. Shakelles. A 5.4km category four climb. It has an average of 4.2% gradient with a max kick of 14%. 

100km to go

The gap has dropped to under three minutes as the riders head onto the q. Shakelles climb. 

After 60km of racing the average speed has been over 46kph which is amazing considering they have been mostly climbing, albeit with a head wind. 

Tarling is comfortably the virtual leader of the race as he started the day +1'34" down on Roglič with the break hold a gap of 2'50" on the peloton. 

The break has a kilometre to the top of the climb. 

KoM (Q. Shakelles)

1. Mark Donovan (GBR) Q36.5 3pts
2. Lorenzo Germani (ITA) Groupama-FDJ 2pts
3. Alessandro Tonelli (ITA) Polti-VisitMalta 1pt

The British rider opens his account in the fight for the blue jersey and is a rider who absolutely could be in the fight for that jersey all the way for Rome but Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis) keeps hold of blue for now. 

90km to go

The gap has stayed the same on the road between the peloton and the break. 

Puncture

Kim Heiduk (Ineos Grenadiers)

The German rider pulls to the side and will get a wheel change from his team car and will be back in the peloton reasonably soon. 

80km to go

Into the final 80km of the stage and Moscon is still lading the way in the peloton alongside Mosca with the gap to the break at 2'54".

Just under 5km to go until the break get to the Red Bull KM in Himarë with 6, 4 and 2 seconds available but the break will take them and the 15, 8, 5 and 3 points. 

Red Bull KM (Himarë)

1. Drie De Bondt (BEL) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale 15pts 6"
2. Mark Donovan (GBR) Q36.5 8pts 4"
3. Lorenzo Germani (ITA) Groupama-FDJ 5pts 2"
4. Alessandro Tonelli (ITA) Polti-VisitMalta 3pts
5. Josh Tarling (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers 1pt

70km to go

The break head onto a climb that, on paper, is harder than the first categorised climb of the day but this is not a classified climb. Also, the gap to the peloton has dropped to 2'34". 

Suddenly, there's change at the front of the peloton. Jayco-AlUla have now upped the pace with multiple riders on the front as well as a few other riders joining them at the front with both Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Lidl-Trek slipping back a bit. 

Puncture

Max Kanter (XDS-Astana)
Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)
Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-QuickStep)

Clearly some rough surface on the road recently. 

Dries De Bondt is starting to struggle in the break and is yoyoing off the back of the break. 

Some riders starting to lose touch at the back of the peloton with Gianni Moscon (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) being one of the riders after he has worked for most of the day. 

Puncture

Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla)

Yet another flat tyre in the peloton. 

Mechanical

Stven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike)

He managed to get it back on and is now riding his way back into the peloton. 

De Bondt is still clinging on in the break with the gap back to the peloton dipping under two minutes. 

Dropped

Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep)
Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)
Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)
Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor)
Gerben Thijssen (Inetermarche-Wanty)
Milan Fretin (Cofidis)

Among others. 

Mechanical

Egan Bernal (Ineos Greandiers)

The Colombian national champion has to take Kim Heiduk's bike with Lucas Hamilton with him and he is back into the peloton already. 

60km to go

Kaden Groves has made it back into the peloton as well. 

Bike change

Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)

The Colombian national champion is back on his own bike and will soon be back in the peloton again. 

Bernal is back riding and has just passed the re-dropped Groves. 

De Bondt is properly back in the break as they get closer to the next intermediate sprint which is in Gjilekë. 

Puncture

Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)

He did such a good job of getting back into the break but a pothole has meant it is game over for the Belgian in the break and he will soon be caught. 

Intermediate sprint (Gjilekë)

1. Chris Hamilton (AUS) Picnic-PostNL 12pts
2. Alessandro Tonelli (ITA) Polti-VisitMalta 8pts
3. Lorenzo Germani (ITA) Groupama-FDJ 5pts
4. Josh Tarling (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers 3pts
5. Mark Donovan (GBR) Q36.5 1pt

Caught

Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)

Solid ride by him today. In the peloton, Ineos Grenadiers, EF Education-EasyPost and Bahrain Victorious have joined Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Lidl-Trek on the front. 

Attack

Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ)

It was a small jab by the Italian rider but everyone was able to respond well. 

50km to go

The break has just 1'21" on the peloton as they are about to start the 10.5km long climb of the Qafa e Llogarasë which has an average gradient of 7.5% with a max kick of 12%. 

Onto the Qafa e Llogarasë they go with a gap of 1'08" between the break of Tarling, Donovan, Germani, Hamilton and Tonelli and the chasing peloton. 

Lidl-Trek have taken full control of the peloton with Daan Hoole leading the way as Rick Pluimers (Tudor) is distanced by the bunch. 

Attack!

Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)

And a Soudal-QuickStep rider. 

Attack!

Three riders including Michael Storer (Tudor) move off the front but he is quickly dragged back by Lidl-Trek. 

Dropped

Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in peloton.
Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) in break. 

The three attackers:

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana)
Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep)

Tarling has been caught by the group of Bilbao, Fortunato and Garofoli with just over 5km to the top of the climb. Lidl-Trek are continuing to control things in the peloton that are 43" behind the leaders. 

Tarling now dropped by the three attackers. 

Garofoli has been distanced by Bilbao and Fortunato as they try to close in on the leaders. 

Attack in break

Chris Hamilton (Picnic-PostNL)
Alessandro Tonelli (Polti-VisitMalta)

Germani and Donovan are keeping to their numbers and slowly trying to pace themselves back as well as Fortunato and Bilbao flying across the gap. 

Just 4km from the top of the Qafa e Llogarasë climb as Tarling is caught by the peloton who are 49" behind the leaders as the race heads into the clouds. 

Fortunato and Bilbao join Hamilton and Tonelli at the front of the race with Germani just off the back. Donovan has been properly dropped. 

Puncture

Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana)

A rider who could've had a good result today but he is now well out of the back of the bunch thanks to this wheel change. 

Donovan and Garofoli have been caught by the peloton led by Carlos Verona of Lidl-Trek. 

Tonelli has been dropped by the break with Hamilton being the last man from the original break to stay with Fortunato and Bilbao. 

40km to go

Just 2km to the top of the climb with the gap going out to 50" now as Verona is not able to close the gap on Fortunato, Bilbao and Hamilton. 

Max Poole (Picnic-PostNL) is just off the back here but is coming back in. Looks like he has had an issues as he cruises back into the peloton yet again. 

Hamilton is finally distanced on the climb as Fortunato continues to set and infernal pace with Bilbao stuck to the Italian's wheel. 

Scaroni makes it back to the peloton which is very impressive. Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) is struggling at the back. 

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) coms to the front of the peloton with Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Vacek of Lidl-Trek following with the whole UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad just sat behind them as Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)is starting to slip away. 

UAE Team Emirates-XRG come to the front as they head to the top of the climb and Pedersen is starting to slip through the group as Fortunato and Bilbao go over the top with 52" gap on the peloton. 

KoM (Qafa e Llogarasë)

1. Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA) XDS-Astana 18pts
2. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain Victorious 8pts
3. Chris Hamilton (AUS) Picnic-PostNL 6pts
4. Alessandro Tonelli (ITA) Polti-VisitMalta 4pts
5. Rafal Majka (POL) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 3pts
6. Damiano Caruso (ITA) Bahrain Victorious 2pts
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 1pt

Tonelli has been dragged back by the peloton led by Rafal Majka of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. 

This is a very technical descent but Bilbao and Fortunato are absolutely flying down this descent despite it's extremely sketchy nature. However, the peloton are going faster as the gap closes to 38". 

Lorenzo Fortunato goes level on points with Sylvain Moniquet but the Italian will wear the jersey tomorrow. 

30km to go

Lidl-Trek has come back to the front with Pedersen looking much better as he comes to the front of the peloton, himself. Just 46" up to Fortunato and Bilbao at the front. 

There was a brief split in the peloton as the big guys of Lidl-Trek come back to the front as the gap is slowly starting to fall under 40". 

20km to go

The gap between the duo up front and the peloton has plummeted with about 15" between the two groups as Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) gets back into the peloton as is an outside shout for a good result today. 

Pedersen has four Lidl-Trek teammates with him. They should be able to control things but other teams might try and late flyer to surprise the Danish star. 

Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) is desperately trying to get back in with three other riders. They are just off the back of the convoy. 

Caught

Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)

They're dragged back and now multiple teams are starting to move up to challenge Lidl-Trek for the control of the bunch. 

Strong makes it back into the peloton with Kevin Genierts (Groupama-FDJ), Jakub Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) and Gijs Leemreize (Picnic-PostNL). 

Puncture

Romain Bardet (Picnic-PostNL)

Just as his team hit the front as the pace began to rocket with worries about the wind along the coast. 

Fast riders that are in the group are Mada Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Orluis Aular (Movistar), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) among others that haven't been spotted. 

Bardet makes it back in with support from Leemreize. 

10km to go

Israel-Premier Tech, Ineos Grenadiers, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Bahrain Victorious lead the way as Lidl-Trek are just bumped off the front. 

Pedersen just has two riders with him now as he is just making sure he stays in a good position as other teams control with Bahrain Victorious really upping the pace. 

UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Bahrain Victorious battle for the control of the bunch with Lidl-Trek muscling their way in as well with 6km to go. 

5km to go

Damiano Caruso is leading his Bahrain Victorious leader, Antonio Tiberi, at the front of the peloton on this very technical and fast coastal road. 

Cofidis move up potentially for a former Giro stage winner, Stefano Oldani. 4km to go. 

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe take over again as the Cofidis man is Sergio Samitier, not Oldani. 

Into the final 3km to go and the safety zone for the GC riders. 

Orluis Aular, Felix Engelhardt, Davide De Pretto, Corbin Strong and Tom Pidcock are battling for Mads Pedersen's wheel with 2km to go as Lidl-Trek take over the pacing. 

Flamme Rouge

Into the final kilometre as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe continue to battle with Lidl-Trek and they morph into one train. 

Ciccone and Vacek have Pedersen perfectly place with 500 metres to go as the fight for the point's jersey wheel is on. 

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) wins stage three of the Giro d'Italia 2025 by half a wheel ahaead of Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech). 

Stage 3 top 10

1. Mads Pedersen (DEN) Lidl-Trek 3:49'47"
2. Corbin Strong (NZL) Israel-Premier Tech
3. Orluis Aular (VEN) Movistar
4. Brandon Rivera (COL) Ineos Grenadiers
5. Edoardo Zambanini (ITA) Bahrain Victorious
6. Stafano Oldani (ITA) Cofidis
7. Andrea Vendrame (ITA) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
8. Martin Marcellusi (ITA) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane
9. Filippo Fiorelli (ITA) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane
10. Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana) all same time. 

Those 10" bonus seconds sees Mads Pedersen retake the pink jersey from Primož Roglič by 9". 

General Classification after stage three

1. Mads Pedersen (DEN) Lidl-Trek 7:42'10"
2. Primož Roglič (SLO) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe +9"
3. Mathias Vacek (CZE) Lidl-Trek +14"
4. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG +21"
5. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates-XRG +25"
6. Isaac Del Toro (MEX) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 26"
7. Max Poole (GBR) Picnic-PostNL +33"
8. Antonio Tiberi (ITA) Bahrain Victorious +34"
9. Michael Storer (AUS) Tudor +36"
10. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe +40"

Make sure to keep up to date with the Cyclingnews website for all the info starting with the post race report by Stephen Farrand.

>>> Giro d'Italia: Mads Pedersen blazes to sprint victory on stage 3 and reclaims maglia rosa 

Here are more images from today's stage.