Tirreno-Adriatico: Gaviria wins stage 3

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A day after his teammate broke away to victory, Fernando Gaviria continued Etixx-QuickStep’s domination at Tirreno-Adriatico with a win in the bunch sprint on stage 3. The Colombian withstood a strong effort from Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky).

“I’m completely happy. It is my first WorldTour race and to take the victory is really satisfying for me and for the team,” Gaviria said after the stage.

Gaviria has been flying high of late, claiming his second world title on the track just last week, but his team said they were putting no pressure on him in his first WorldTour race. He appeared to be well out of position as the race went into the final kilometre, but rode the wheels of the teams in front to work his way forward. Positioning himself in the wheel of Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) on the left-hand side of the road, Gaviria swung to the right to find some clear space.

His acceleration was such that he had a clear advantage as they went through the final corner just 50 metres later, despite having to adjust his line to avoid Leigh Howard (IAM Cycling). Fellow youngster, Ewan mounted a serious challenge to Gaviria’s sprint using his distinctive low profile to come up alongside him. The pair pulled clear of the rest of the group but Ewan just didn’t have enough to pass Gaviria when the road pitched upwards in the final metres.

Despite having a strong lead-out, Sagan was quickly overtaken by the pure sprinters and could only manage fourth place.

Gaviria’s Etixx-QuickStep teammate and stage 2 winner, Zdenek Stybar finished safely within the group to keep hold of the race lead ahead of Damiano Caruso.

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How it happened

After a complicated second stage, the third stage of Tirreno-Adriatico from Castelnuovo Val di Cecina to Montalto di Castro was expected to be one for the sprinters. Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-QuickStep) began the day in the leader’s maglia azzurra after his emphatic victory on stage 2’s uphill finish.

A five-man group, consisting of Giorgio Cecchinel (Androni Giocattoli), José Gonçalves (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Davide Villella (Cannondale), Simone Andreeta (Bardiani-CSF) and Adrian Honkisz (CCC-Sprandi Polkowice), broke free in the opening 10 kilometres. They made use of the very lumpy start to the day to build a strong advantage over the peloton.

With the race leader and stage favourite, in Fernando Gaviria, to think about, Etixx-QuickStep - helped by Orica-GreenEdge - set about keeping the five men on a short leash. They held the escape group at a manageable advantage around four minutes for much of the day. Astana have not come with a sprinter but they were also sure to keep near the front to protect their leader Vincenzo Nibali.

In the Orica-GreenEdge corner, it was Svein Tuft that did the majority of the work on the front. The Canadian did a mighty turn over the climbs and was still there, or thereabouts, as the race entered into the finale. The efforts of Tuft and kept the pace high and it was too much for Andreeta, who was the first of the escapees to crack and get reeled back in.

Inside the final 50 kilometres, Movistar - in the form of Andre Amador - pitched in with the effort of bringing back the breakaway. Amador’s efforts had a big impact, bringing the gap down to just over a minute with 20 kilometres remaining. Like Astana, they have no real sprint contenders but they team in dark blue were ensuring Alejandro Valverde’s safe passage to the line.

With such firepower doing the work behind, the break stood almost no chance at staying out until the finish line. As they passed under the 10km to go banner, the gap stood at just 30 seconds with Sky, Etixx-QuickStep, Tinkoff and Orica-GreenEdge all trying to make some room for themselves at the head of the peloton. Digging deep, the escapees took a stay of execution and increased their advantage for a few kilometres but it was just delaying the inevitable and the catch was finally made just inside the final two kilometres.

As the peloton approached the finish, the road became narrow and there were plenty of turns to negotiate. With one rider in front of him, Sagan moved to the front but he was no match for Gaviria when he launched his move just before the final corner. A late move from Ewan was enough to give him second with Viviani taking the sprint in the second group to take third.

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