Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the third stage here at Tirreno-Adriatico.
Today's stage sees the peloton take on a 170-kilometre ride south-east from Murlo in Tuscany to Terni in the central region of Umbria. We're likely to see another sprint finish after yesterday's triumph by Tim Merlier.
10 minutes until today's start, with a 12.8 kilometre neutral zone. The real start is set for 1:10pm local time, so 30 minutes away.
Stage 2 winner Merlier is in the points jersey today, taking it over from Filippo Ganna, who has the same total points. The Belgian should move clear today but will hang on to it in the likely sprint finish later on?
🇮🇹 #TirrenoAdriatico Andiamo! 👊@MerlierTim rides in ciclamino today! He's got 12 pts in the points classification. The same amount as Ganna, but technically it's his. pic.twitter.com/WUq2jsnsJxMarch 9, 2022
The hilltop village of Murlo hosts the start today. Looks like a nice little place to kick off a bike race.
Our reporter on the ground Stephen Farrand is in there somewhere sniffing out stories.
The peloton is rolling out of Murlo at the moment. Stage 3 is underway!
Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) hasn't taken the start today after falling ill.
Story to come on Sagan's withdrawal. The Slovakian finished fourth in yesterday's sprint finish, a positive sign after a tough start to the season. He'll look to recover in time for his first major goal of the season at Milan-San Remo in 10 days' time.
Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa) is out there again. He's in the move with his older brother Mattia (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) as well as his teammate Mirco Maestri.
Edoardo Zardini (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) is also in the break, as are Luca Rastelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert).
25-year-old Mattia Bais has been a pro for three years now, each of them spent at Androni. 23-year-old Davide, meanwhile, made the step up last season.
The pair hail from Rovereto in Trentino. Last year they shared 25 race days, including Tirreno-Adriatico and Il Lombardia while this season they've been in the same peloton at the Challenge Mallorca and the Trofeo Laigueglia.
150km to go
After 20 kilometres of racing the break has six minutes on the peloton.
A look at the riders leaving Murlo earlier on today.
(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
The sole classified climb of the day is coming up after 40 kilometres of racing. Bais (Davide) will look to extend his KOM lead there.
It's no surprise that the sprinter's teams are working at the head of the peloton at the moment. Alpecin-Fenix (for stage 2 winner Tim Merlier) and BikeExchange-Jayco (for Kaden Groves) are up there at the moment.
Bais, race leader Filippo Ganna, and top young rider Remco Evenepoel riding at the front of the peloton in the neutral zone earlier on.
(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
The break will soon be coming up towards the day's only climb.
The climb to La Foce is 5.4 kilometres long at 4.6 per cent.
135km to go
The peloton have sped up in recent kilometres. The break's advantage is now down to a more manageable 3:20.
The break are on the climb now, and their advantage continues to drop. The peloton is 2:25 back.
Davide Bais leading the breakaway.
(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
Bais has more points to add to his collection. He led the breakaway over the top with Rastelli and Maestri behind him.
Now that Davide Bais has grabbed the KOM points, he drops back from the breakaway. That's all he was looking for on today's stage, so he might as well save some energy – presumably to get out there again in the coming days.
112km to go
Just two minutes for the break at the moment. Five men left out front.
The men in blue – BikeExchange-Jayco and Filippo Ganna – lead the peloton.
(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
Caleb Ewan has a chain problem. He stops at the side of the road to get some help from his mechanic.
1:30 for the breakaway now.
100km to go
70 kilometres done on today's stage. 100 to go and the gap to the break is 1:50.
Following on from our story on the opening time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico on riders getting aero gains from following team cars stacked with bikes, we've spoken to Alex Dowsett about the issue.
Alpecin-Fenix, Movistar, BikeExchange-Jayco ride at the head of the peloton. 1:40 to the breakaway.
Frankly not a whole lot going on at the moment as the gap is steady and there's little to fight for out on the road here. The day's intermediate sprint comes at just under 30 kilometres from the line, over 60 kilometres away from where the riders are now.
Caleb Ewan has stopped again. He waits for a bike change. It's unclear what the problem is this time.
90km to go
Slow going for Ewan as he and a teammate stand around while team staff tend to his bikes. The peloton rides through the feed zone, though, so it won't be much of a drama for the sprinter to get back on.
The break of the day ft. some sheep.
(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
Caleb Ewan has stopped yet again. His Lotto Soudal mechanics jump out to fix something with his handlebars. Maybe the alignment was a bit off.
77km to go
Over a hilly section of the middle of the stage and the gap remains at around the two -minute mark. Alpecin-Fenix, BikeExchange-Jayco, and Movstar keep control.
More musettes for the peloton as they take lunch.
Gazprom-RusVelo manager Renat Khamidulin has set a deadline of March 27 to save the team, whether that's through talks with the UCI – which reportedly aren't going well – or a new sponsorship deal for the team.
Now the gap is down to 50 seconds. Little else to report currently. The break continue to battle away together.
A look at the peloton as they speed towards today's finish. 1:25 to the break at the moment.
(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
50km to go
The riders are heading uphill at the moment, another unclassified hill on the route. Just over 20 kilometres until they reach the intermediate sprint.
UAE Team Emirates hit the front as the peloton rides up the climb.
The peloton is lined out behind them as the squad ups the pace. Just 30 seconds to the break now.
47km to go
It's over for the break as UAE drag them back.
UAE continue to push at the front. Unclear what they're doing, really.
EF's Ruben Guerreiro has abandoned the race.
36km to go
UAE's push didn't really achieve anything yet. Now a mix of teams, including them, Movistar, and Bahrain are at the head of the peloton.
A quick bike change for Thibaut Pinot and he's back up and running again.
30km to go
The peloton still all together here. No new moves to report yet.
UAE pushing on once again now as we near the intermediate sprint. A few bonus seconds for Pogačar?
27km to go
Alaphilippe is out front with Pogačar as they race towards the line.
And it's the Slovenian who takes the three bonus seconds at the sprint.
His teammate Marc Soler was second, Alaphilippe third.
Alaphilippe, Pogačar, and Soler are pushing on now. It's up and down on hilly roads here.
Landa and Geoghegan Hart chase behind.
24km to go
Geoghegan Hart is across to the lead trio now.
27 seconds back to the peloton.
Jumbo-Visma and Groupama-FDJ lead the peloton behind.
18 seconds now as the peloton flies along in pursuit of the lead quartet.
18km to go
The peloton is strung out in a line under the high pace at the front. The attackers keep pushing.
The riders all flying down a descent at the moment.
The attackers are giving it a good go but even the likes of Pogačar, Alaphilippe, Soler, and Geoghegan Hart will have a near-impossible time in holding off the peloton here.
14km to go
Just six seconds for the group now as they hit the flat road at the bottom of the descent. A flat ride all the way to the end now.
The four are looking back now, just a few seconds up on the peloton.
11km to go
Still a handful of seconds left.
And now it's over for the attackers. They're caught.
10km to go
Everything is back together.
A mix of teams at the front now as the peloton is spread across the road.
8km to go
Arkéa-Samsic, Groupama-FDJ, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, Jumbo-Visma, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert all up there.
No one team is taking control just yet.
6km to go
Bora, EF, QuickStep up there now.
QuickStep possibly the most organised at the moment.
5km to go
Race leader Ganna is on the front now.
Cofidis, BikeExchange, Bahrain moving up.
4km to go
Ganna continues to drill it.
3km to go
Jumbo-Visma move up as Ganna remains at the front.
2km to go
Jumbo-Visma and Ganna continue at the front.
Alaphilippe jumps foward now as QuickStep take over.
Several teams trying to battle for position with the Belgian squad.
1km to go
QuickStep lead the way. Groupama-FDJ move up.
500m to go
Groupama-FDJ in charge now. A bit of a mess behind as they hit the left-hander.
Cobbles to the finish.
It's Ewan vs Démare!
A hard sprint on the cobbled road in Terni.
And Ewan takes it!
It looked like a close one there. And after all the problems he's had during the stage too...
Ewan was in prime position behind Démare and Ackermann around the final bend.
Démare launched the sprint while Ackermann faded. Ewan came around the pair of them to take the win.
Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) took third place behind Ewan and Démare, his second podium in two days.
"I've been coming here for a few years now, but I always seem to have bad luck or bad form. It's definitely always a race that I want to win at so I'm super happy with how today went.
"I had to use a lot of guys, a lot of my teammates, with that late attack because you can't give those guys so much time. I used a lot of guys there and I knew that if I was on my own and I could follow the right wherels that I'd know what to do at the finish. So that's what I did, I committed my guys to bringing it back and then I could finish it off in the end.
"Well, I saw Arnaud with one teammate left and they still looked quite good, so I was on his wheel, and they seemed to go at the right moment. I just knew I had to be top three or four in that last corner and a finish like that suits me when it's slightly uphill and a hard drag to the line.
"It's very important [to start the year well] You always want to start the year really well and I'm happy with how this year has started. One of my big goals for the season is next week [Milan-San Remo], so I'll take a lot of confidence from this going into that."
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Filippo Ganna remains in the GC lead 11 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel. Tadej Pogačar has closed to within 14 seconds of the Italian after his intermediate sprint attack and three bonus seconds.
