After the team time trial on Ischia island, the race heads south down the Amalfi coast, with Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) in the pink jersey.
There could be trouble ahead
Monday's 222km third stage could prove to be more testing that expected after the Giro d'Italia peloton awoke to cloudy skies and risk of rain on the Amalfi coast and the final climb overlooking the finish in Marina di Ascea.
The Amalfi roads are notoriously smooth due to the constant traffic on the breathtaking coast road. However they become greasy when wet.
The descent to the finish includes numerous hairpins and tight corners, which could be the perfect launch pad for a late attack.
Puccio in pink, Dowsett in white
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There are four leader's jerseys in the Giro d'Italia, each designed by Paul Smith this year.
Salvatore Puccio wears the maglia rosa during Monday's stage three from Sorrento to Marina di Ascea.
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) wears the red points jersey, while Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) wears the blue climber's jersey after picking up the points on offer during stage one in Naples.
Alex Dowsett wears the white jersey thanks to his second place in the best young rider competition behind Salvatore Puccio.
The power of the pink jersey
Wearing the pink jersey carries extra responsibilities but also gives extra benefits and often secures special treatment from the race organisers.
Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) had to speak to the media after pulling on the maglia rosa and then give a urine sample at anti-doping. It meant he missed the two ferries taking the riders to Sorrento but he made it to the mainland in time for dinner thanks to taking a private motorboat.
The sixth Sicilian
Salvatore Puccio is just the sixth Sicilian to wear the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia after Mario Fazio (three times in 1949), Giovanni Corrieri (once in 1953), Guido Messina (once in 1955), Giovanni Visconti (eight times in 2008) and Vincenzo Nibali (twice in 2010 and twice in 2011).
His family moved to Assisi in Umbria when he was 13 and Puccio spent much of his amateur career racing in Tuscany before signing with Team Sky in 2012.
Movistar's mixed day
The Spanish Movistar team has had a solid start to the Giro d'Italia, finishing second in Sunday's TTT , just nine seconds behind Team Sky. However the bad news concerned team leader Juanjo Cobo.
While inspecting the course pre-race, Cobo hit the front of his knee on his handlebars hurting his patella. In the race he lost two-and-a-half minutes on the rest of the Movistar squad.
“It's sad, because things were going well but we paid for it after Cobo couldn't be there, in such a finale and on a route that suited him perfectly,” team manager Eusebio Unzué said. “We had to slow down a bit in the final climb because we needed five men together, and we might have lost the TT there. You don't celebrate after a second place, but this is one that makes us really happy.”
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
