Giro d'Italia stage 3 – Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia as the peloton take on the first summit finish of the race at Mount Etna.

We're around half an hour away from the race start in Enna ahead of a 150km run to the summit of Etna. It's a relatively short one today but there's plenty of (unclassified) climbing on the way to the final climb.

Today will see the first big chance for the men who already lost time on GC in the opening time trial to try and claw some time back. The likes of Jakob Fuglsang, Steven Kruijswijk and Vincenzo Nibali are already over a minute down on Geraint Thomas.

Read our stage 3 preview here

"On Etna, White is hoping that a good beginning will continue for Yates. But the climb also represents the first main chance for those who lost time in Palermo’s time trial to set the record straight - before they leave Sicily. And that may well not be a chance anybody wants to miss."

The last time the Giro finished on Etna was back in 2018. Mitchelton-Scott dominated the stage with Esteban Chaves and Simon Yates taking a one-two finish, 26 seconds up on the rest of the peloton. Yates would take pink that day and go on to hold it until his collapse on stage 19.

The peloton stopped at kilometre zero as Geraint Thomas crashed in the neutralised zone. Israel Start-Up Nation report that he's up and running again, so the proper start will be taken soon.

Racing has begun!

Victor Campenaerts (NTT) is off the front along with Lawson Craddock (EF) in these early stages.

Four more riders have jumped away to make it six men on the attack.

144km to go

Josip Rumac (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Francesco Romano (Bardiani-CSF), Matt Holmes (Lotto Soudal) and Giovanni Visconti (Vini Zabu-KTM) are up front with Campenaerts and Craddock.

Front wheel change for Holmes. Bad luck for him at this early stage.

EF's Jonathan Caicedo and UAE's Mikkel Bjerg are trying to bridge the gap to the break. They have Holmes for company after the Briton's wheel change.

A nice-looking ride for pink jersey Filippo Ganna. It should – barring an incredible ride on Etna – be his final day on the bike and in the jersey today.

136km to go

Bjerg, Holmes and Caicedo join the leaders. Eight up front now. 3:30 back to the peloton. It's settled.

A few shots of Thomas in the peloton. He looks fine, sitting alongside teammate Ben Swift. He has a few small tears on his left shoulder, though.

Mitchelton-Scott lead the peloton, now 4:45 down on the break. Ineos and Astana are up there too.

127km to go

The gap is stable at 4:35 at the moment as Mitchelton-Scott control the situation. Simon Yates will surely have a go later on today.

It's likely to stay this way for a while. There are no categorised climbs on the route today before the summit finish and nothing to really race for before the intermediate sprints in the final 50km. In short, probably quite a quiet day until they start the final climb.

103km to go

The riders are nearing the 100km to go mark, a third of the way through the stage. Mitchelton-Scott and Ineos are still leading the way in the peloton.

The break's advantage has been cut down to three minutes over the last few kilometres. 

Giro d’Italia: Ganna prepared to pass pink jersey to Geraint Thomas on Mount Etna

'If I have to lose the maglia rosa, I hope it stays with Ineos'

80km to go

No worries up front as the gap heads back up to almost five minutes.

Here's a short update on Geraint Thomas, who crashed in the neutralised zone today. He has looked fine since then but we'll see if his fall affects him at all later on today.

70km to go

The breakaway's advantage is 4:50 with 70km of racing to go. The feed zone is coming up, followed by some more unclassified climbs.

Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates) stops in the middle of a peloton. His chain seems to have snapped and he calmly gets a new bike from the team car.

65km to go

5:25 for the break now with Mitchelton-Scott still leading the peloton. Lotto Soudal are also up there at the front.

All eight riders in the break are still together. No problems up front yet.

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50km to go

No change at the front as the eight-man breakaway reach the final third of today's stage. They're 5:10 up on the peloton, which is still led by Mitchelton-Scott.

Intermediate sprint coming up for the break. Points only for the first eight across the line, so nobody in the peloton will get anything.

Rumac leads the break over ahead of the two men from EF.

Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) was held up by a crash but he's back in the peloton now.

40km to go

The gap is hanging at around five minutes now. Plenty of time to make the catch especially with the 19km climb to the finish awaiting the riders.

Spots of rain are falling now. Not a downpour but still not the best conditions for the riders.

A dog loose in the peloton! Thankfully everyone managed to slow down and avoid it. 

32km to go

A number of different teams at the front of the peloton now, with Trek-Segafredo leading the way for Vincenzo Nibali.

Rumac and Romano have dropped back from the breakaway. Six men left up front now. 3:45 back to the peloton.

29km to go

Geraint Thomas is at the back of the peloton with maglia rosa Ganna. There's 10km to go to the start of the climb. He's grimacing.

Thomas is done! Dropped with 28km to go. He has Ganna and Swift for company.

Here's a look at Thomas bearing the scars from his earlier crash.

Swift has gone back to the peloton. Only Ganna with Thomas now. It's over. A very sad way to end his GC challenge at this Giro.

They won't want to benefit from the misfortune of others but that's a gift for Yates, Nibali, Fuglsang, Kruijswijk et al. Thomas would've taken big time on them all in the 50km of time trials that remain in the race.

Thomas is only 20 seconds back but even if he makes it back he hardly looks in the shape to fight on Etna.

18km to go

It's not confirmed but Thomas may have fallen again, rather than having just been dropped as a result of injuries suffered in his earlier crash.

He's yo-yoing off the back of the peloton at the moment...

17km to go

Rohan Dennis and Ganna are both with Thomas, 25 seconds down on the peloton.

The riders hit Etna with Trek-Segafredo leading the way in the peloton 3:30 down on the break. 

Lawson Craddock drops back from the breakaway.

Holmes, Caicedeo, Campenaerts, Visconti, Bjerg remain in the break.

16km to go

Holmes pushes on in the break, making a small gap to his companions. Caicdo closes the move down, however.

Ineos DS Matteo Tosatto has confirmed that Thomas suffered just one crash, in the neutralised zone. 

14km to go

Caicedo and Visconti push on in the break as Holmes and Bjerg chase. The peloton lies 2:45 back.

Bora-Hansgrohe have moved to the front of the peloton. AG2R and CCC have riders up there too, while Trek remain prominent.

12km to go

Bora-Hansgrohe are really taking control here. Matteo Fabbro has jumped from the peloton, getting a gap. 

Campenaerts and Holmes are suddenly caught by the peloton. Visconti and Caicedo remain, two minutes up. Thomas is three minutes behind the peloton at the moment.

10km to go

Fabbro is back with the peloton after his brief foray and takes the lead ahead of Ineos.

10km to go

Fabbro is very keen to push on. He gets another small gap and turns around to gesticulate at the peloton behind him.

Ben Swift and Ineos leader-elect Tao Geoghegan Hart are next in line in the peloton.

Vini Zabu DS Luca Scinto not happy that he can't hand over a bottle to Visconti...

9km to go

Simon Yates is dropped! What...

He and his Mitchelton-Scott team hadn't been at the front of the peloton for a while and wow, he's off the back already. What a crazy stage...

1:45 between break and peloton. Six minutes from break to Thomas. Bora and Ineos still lead the peloton.

Mitchelton-Scott have only dropped one rider back to Yates and the Briton is having trouble holding the wheel. Meanwhile, the team cars pass through so the gap must be pretty big.

6.5km to go

Yates is 50 seconds down on the peloton. Jonathan Castroviejo makes a move at the front of the peloton. UAE mass behind him.

1:35 to the break.

The Thomas group is over seven minutes behind the front of the race now.

5km to go

Visconti tries to drop Caicedo up front. Caicedo immediately responds and goes past.

Caicedo has dropped Visconti now. 1:10 back to the peloton.

Meanwhile, the peloton has fallen apart. Castroviejo has Lotto rider Harm Vanhoucke for company 30 seconds up on the peloton.

4km to go

Dark skies and damp roads for the riders.

Fuglsang pushes on at the head of the peloton, stringing it out.

Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) flies away, his jersey flapping in the wind. Jumbo-Visma and Bora-Hansgrohe work to drag him back.

3km to go

The riders are out of the forest and into the exposed section at the top of the mountain now. There's a headwind blowing.

Around 20 riders remain in the peloton, led by Trek-Segafredo rider Gianluca Brambilla. They're 1:40 back on Caicedo while Yates is three minutes down.

2.5km to go

Geoghegan Hart is dropped from the GC group.

Nibali attacks! Pozzovivo follows with Majka, Fuglsang, Pedrero and Kruijwsijk in the wheel.

2km to go

Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain McLaren) also makes it across to that elite group.

Fuglsang goes now.

Fuglsang has Nibali, Pozzovivo and Majka with him. Kruijwsijk and Pedrero struggle to keep in contact.

1:15 to Caicedo.

Kruijwsijk makes it across to Nibali, Fuglsang, Pozzovivo and Majka as the Dane waves off a camera moto. These are the elite 5 GC riders on the road at the moment.

Caicedo is looking good now. 1.4km to go for him and over a minute in hand.

Pozzovivo attacks now on the steepest gradients. He has Nibali and Fuglsang with him as Kruijwsijk and Majka struggle.

A great ride from the veteran, just over a year after he suffered potentially career-ending injuries after he was hit by a driver while out training.

1km to go

A minute for Caicedo.

Pozzovivo leads the GC group with Nibali, Fuglsang and Majka behind as they catch Castroviejo.

500m to go

Jonathan Caicedo is going to win this! A great result for the Ecuadorian champion with his headline-grabbing garish Palace x Rapha kit and bike

Jonathan Caicedo (EF Pro Cycling) wins stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia on Mount Etna!

Visconti takes second, 22 seconds back.

Vanhoucke and Kelderman take third and fourth, 33 and 40 seconds down.

Fuglsang leads the GC group across the line, 52 seconds down. Kruijswijk loses about three seconds to Pozzovivo, Fuglsang, Nibali, Majka.

It looks like Almeida might just have missed out on the pink jersey to Caicedo. He was around 1:04 down and lost 10 seconds of time bonus to Caicedo.

Before today's stage he lay 1:13 up on the Ecuadorian.

Here's the stage 3 result

1 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Pro Cycling 4:02:33
2 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu' KTM 0:00:21
3 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:30
4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:39
5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:51
6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
8 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
10 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:56

Simon Yates finished 4:24 down...

João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) is the new GC leader.

Thomas crosses the line 12:20 down on Caicedo.

Here's your stage 3 winner, Caicedo.

João Almeida in pink.

Here's what Caicedo had to say after the finish...

"This is a dream come true. We planned to go in the break and go for it. I felt good in some moments but bad in others and was going to give up hope. Then when Visconti attacked I realised I felt good and attacked myself. 

"It’s an immense feeling of joy to win. It’s difficult to describe. I’ve worked hard for this and I have to thank the guys in the team, they helped me so much."

Here's our report from stage 3 with a photo gallery and full results sheet.

Giro d'Italia: Caicedo wins on Mount Etna as Thomas, Yates lose ground

Giro d'Italia GC erupts on road to Mount Etna

Thomas and Yates lose time as Nibali, Fuglsang, Kelderman and Kruijswijk emerge and Almeida takes pink

Geraint Thomas' Giro d'Italia bid goes up in smoke after dramatic early stage 3 crash

Ineos Grenadiers’ Grand Tour ambitions collapse for the second time in 2020

Giro d'Italia: Simon Yates' challenge suffers heavy blow at Mount Etna

'We’ll have to come at it from a different angle now' says White

Caicedo takes his first Giro d'Italia win Mount Etna

EF Pro Cycling rider gives Ecuador more success in Italy

Almeida flies under radar no longer to lead Giro d'Italia

Portuguese racer tied on time overall with stage winner Caicedo