Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali: Ethan Hayter wins stage 3

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Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) produced an aggressive sprint after being lead out by his Ineos Grenadiers teammates to take the stage 3 victory at Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali on the Adriatic sea front in Riccione. 

Shane Archbold (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was second, while Nick Schultz (Team BikeExchange) took third after a hard stage in the nearby hills. 

Ineos Grenadiers snuffed out a solo attack by Antonio Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) with four kilometres to go and then set up the sprint battle for Hayter. It was Hayter’s first win of the season after three consecutive fifth places at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. It was his second with Ineos after taking the Giro dell'Appennino, also in Italy, last summer.

A bunch finish in Riccione allowed stage 2 winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) to retain his general classification lead. Following by one second for a three-way tie in second place are Ivan Sosa (Ineos Grenadiers), Hayter and Schultz. Ben Hermans of Israel Start-Up Nation is three seconds back in fifth place. 

It is the second time Hayter has won a race in Riccione, taking the prologue on the first day of the 2019 under-23 version of the Giro d'Italia.

“It was a really good day for us. It was quite hard for the break to go, but I felt good and I was right at the front,” Hayter told Cycling Pro Net at the finish.

“I actually punctured coming into San Marino, and there was a little bit of panic there, but I got back on. The team did a perfect job for me. I almost got boxed in, but with some communication it was perfect.”

How it unfolded

162 riders took the start line in Riccione for stage 3 for a rolling day across two categorised climbs and 139 kilometres that would bring them back to the beachfront resort of Riccione. Ice on the road forced the organisers to remove the Monte Carpegna climb but it was still a testing day in the hills. 

After 20 kilometres and entry into San Marino, a trio of riders got away from the peloton. Alejandro Osorio (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) bridged up to Rubio Reyes (Movistar) and Edoardo Zardini (Vini Zabù) to cement the first serious break. The group swelled to seven a few kilometres later, adding Nibali, Oiarbide Garik Bravo (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Andrea Garosio (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) and Manuel Senni (Italian National Team). They quickly opened a 55-second advantage.

The group would reach the only sprint contest of the stage on the same roads used for the individual time trial of the 2019 Giro d’Italia. 

Jumbo-Visma set the pace at the front of the peloton protecting GC leader Vingegaard. 

Manuele Boaro (Astana-Premier Tech) was the first rider to test his legs from the peloton, but was quickly reabsorbed, while the leaders extended the gap to six minutes.

Senni accelerated from his companions and had a 20-second gap by the 64km marker. He continued to push the gap to the beginning of the climb of Villaggio del Lago (9km at 6 per cent) to 50 seconds, but the group took up the chase, only Garosio losing contact.

The peloton chased Senni and the six-rider chase group, bringing the gap down to 3:10 with 70km to go.

Senni was the first rider to crest the first-category Villagrande climb, but with 60km to go was soon swallowed by the chasers, making it six in front of a fading Garosio and the peloton 1:45 back.

Senni attacked again on the descent, but was caught by an attentive Nibali, giving the twosome a slight 20-second advantage. It was short lived, as the seven came back together on the rolling roads back in San Marino with 45km to go.

Just seven kilometres later, Zardini launched a solo attack, but Nibali got on his wheel. The pair pushed the pace to make it a tandem ride towards the finish with a one-minute margin on the chasers with 25km to go. All the other original riders in the breakaway were caught as the sprinters left in the front group sensed their chance.

The final 16km were strewn with an abundance of short, steep climbs and Nibali surged ahead to attack them first. He had a 22 second margin over Zardini with 12km to go, but patience had run out for the peloton. Zardini was reeled in with 10km to go, and Nibali was in sight for the catch, aggressively driven by Ineos Grenadiers at the front of the chase. 

A full force of black and red jerseys provided a launchpad at the finish for 22-year-old Hayter to take the victory.