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Giro d'Italia 2018: Stage 3

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Buongiorno and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia. The final stage in Israel is from Be'er Sheva to Eilat and covers 229km. 


For the latest race updates, please refresh this page

Welcome to our full live coverage of the third stage of the Corsa Rosa. 

The riders are currently signing on and preparing for a long hot say in the Israel desert.

In theory the 229km is another chance for the sprinters. 

Rohan Dennis (BMC) will start stage 3 wearing the pink jersey after taking a three-second time bonus at an intermediate sprint during stage 2.

Despite some drops of rain at the start, riders have been applying suncream for a hot day in the desert.

The stage is not flat but the climbs are gradual and so should not be a problem. There are two intermediate sprints were points and 3-2-1 bonus seconds will be awarded. 

The riders are concerned about the cross winds in the desert and possible splits and echelons.  

Chris Froome suggested the Giro d'Italia is a Grand Tour of Classics and he is right. 

The riders have lined up, with the leader jerseys on the front. They are now riding the 5.3km neutralised section to the official start.

Chris Froome has again  put himself at the front to avoid any problems. 

The crowds are again huge along the roadside, with everyone cheering the riders.

Rohan Dennis (BMC) wears the pink jersey today.

The race director's car slows as km 0 approaches. The flag is about to drop on stage 3. 

They're off! 

And we have the first attack. Three riders have jumped away.

225km remaining from 229km

The peloton seems happy to let them go clear. Several riders have already stopped to take a natural break. 

The riders are already in the exposed desert as they head south from Be'er Sheva towards Eilat.  

The trio up front now lead by 2:00.

223km remaining from 229km

218km remaining from 229km

216km remaining from 229km

213km remaining from 229km

Barbin is in the break to try to take maximum points on the only climb of the stage: the cat 4 climb at Farran river after 127km. 

Stage 2 Elia Viviani leads the points competition and so wears the ciclamino jersey. 

200km remaining from 229km

Sergio Henao (Sky) has a flat but quickly gets a wheel change and is away. 

198km remaining from 229km

195km remaining from 229km

Upfront the trio are sharing the work on the front, taking long turns on the front as the others try to recover in the slipstream. 

This was the sign the riders saw along the road.

The terrain is hillier now as the riders enter the Negev desert.

The break is approaching the first intermediate sprint. 

183km remaining from 229km

He gets a gap and so is first over the sprint line. Frapporti and Barbin cruise past the crowd at the intermediate sprint.

The peloton is some 3km behind the break out on the road. 

Quick-Step move up to lead out Viviani for the sprint. He's targeting the points jersey and so even 4th place is important.

Viviani gets a good lead out but is challenged by Sacha Modolo. 

Viviani squeezed Modolo against the barriers, closing the door on the EF rider to make sure he hit the line first.  

Viviani picks up eight points and so strengthen's his lead in the points competition. 

178km remaining from 229km

The break passes a herd of camels. Google explains that a group of camels can also be described as a caravan, flock or train. 

The Mitchelton-Scott team took this photo of the train of camels.

The camels seem to enjoy seeing the peloton cruise past. 

172km remaining from 229km

The desert roads are sparking a few punctures. Selig of Bora is latest but he gets a fast wheel change and is chasing the peloton.

Team Sky is riding around Chris Froome, protecting their team leader from the wind and possible crashes. 

The other overall contenders are tucked safely in the peloton. From the CN blimp we can see Fabio Aru close to the front, while Thibaut Pinot of Groupama is on the wheels. 

165km remaining from 229km

The second sprint is at the summit, which is at an altitude of 840 metres, giving a view across the desert.

The peloton is cruising at 35km/h. 

The peloton is cruising at 35km/h. 

161km remaining from 229km

This is the first really climb of the 2018 Giro d'Italia. The riders will actually enjoy stretching their legs and getting into the daily racing routine.

The BMC team continues to lead the peloton and protect Dennis' pink jersey.

This TV screen grab shows the landscape out in the Negev desert.

To see the landscape of stage 2, click here to watch the highlights of the stage to Tel Aviv. 

153km remaining from 229km

The trio in the break are watching each other.

Boivin goes again! The others let him take maximum points and the 3 bonus seconds.

148km remaining from 229km

The trio's lead is back above 5:00. 

Quick-Step are again riding for Viviani.

He gets a lead out and collects six points again. 

The riders are now entering the feed zone and grabbing their musette. It's lunch time.

Before eating, the peloton has to tackle the fast descent from Mitzpe Ramon.  

142km remaining from 229km

The barren landscape continues with the race passing near the Ramon crater. 

The only spectators are mountain bikers. 

The only spectators are mountain bikers. 

128km remaining from 229km

This TV grab shows the expanse of the desert and the Ramon Crater.

For now there is little wind in the desert. However our reporters have arrived at the finish in Eilat and have warned the wind is stronger there, even if it is largely a tail wind.

124km remaining from 229km

As we wait or the sprinters' teams to up the chase the of the break it isa perfect time to catch up with riders who impressed yesterday. 

The peloton is lined out now after the descent.

Yesterday Tom Dumoulin started the stage in the pink jersey after winning Friday's TT. However he seemed happy to let Rohan Dennis take it and so pick up control of the race. 

105km remaining from 229km

102km remaining from 229km

Frapporti attacks first with 1.5km to go. 

The climb is only 1.2km but kicks up.  

Frapporti reaches the summit first and takes three points.  

Barbin is second and takes 2 points ahead of Boivin, that means Barbin has a total of 5 points and keeps the blue climber's jersey. 

Did the Italians stitch-up and work over Boivin up there by Frapport attacking and Barbin sitting on? 

98km remaining from 229km

Froome takes advantage of a slight descent to move up near the front of the peloton.

BMC were disappointed to miss out on the stage victory in the opening TT but bounced back in style yesterday by attacking the race and ensuring Dennis won the intermediate sprint to get the bonus seconds and the leader's pink jersey.

Alasdair Fotheringham spoke to BMC DS Max Sciandri this morning about their successfil tactic. 

Sciandri is keen to defend the jersey.

85km remaining from 229km

The peloton dropped down the climb of the stage into valley roads. 

81km remaining from 229km

79km remaining from 229km

Richard Carapz of Movistar is the latest to suffer a flat. 

76km remaining from 229km

Ben king of Dimension Data is the latest to flat. 

There is lots of stones and flints on the edges of the road in the desert.

69km remaining from 229km

65km remaining from 229km

The gap is down to 1:40.  

We're definitely in the finale of the stage now.

56km remaining from 229km

The peloton is lined out ahead of them. 

Viviani is back in the peloton but needs to get to the front. 

The break is only 40 seconds ahead now and so the peloton has eased off the chase. 

46km remaining from 229km

42km remaining from 229km

37km remaining from 229km

This is the second longest stage of the 2018 Giro and comes on the last day in Israel. 

The riders in the break take a final bidon from their team cars before the bar closes with 20km to go.

30km remaining from 229km

The speed is up now and so several riders have been distanced. including Victor Campenaerts of Lotto, who is third overall, just 3 seconds from the race lead.

The team cars were held back with a barage from the UCI race officials.

The trio up front are tired now. They've been up the road for over 200km.

20km remaining from 229km

Viviani talked about the finish of the stage before rolling out. 

15km remaining from 229km

The wind could also be a factor in the final kms.

 

The trio is now racing flat out to try to stay away. They're trying to surprise the peloton but behind they're also flying thanks to a tail wind on the approach to Eilat.

Behind riders are spat out the back due to the high speed, including some sprinters. 

It seems Bonifazio of Bahrain is off the back. He was fourth yesterday but he has little chance today.  

10km remaining from 229km

A check point squeezes the peloton and lines them out. Speed bumps are an extra hazard. 

Team Sky try to move up Froome and keep him safe. 

7km remaining from 229km

5km remaining from 229km

Stybar is on the front as Viviani wanted. The peloton is lined out.

EF and Lotto are trying to stay on Quick-Step's wheel.

Morkov seems to be Viviani's lead out man today. 

Stybar and Maximilian Schachmann are working for Quick-Step Floors on the front.

227km remaining from 229km

Here comes Bora for Bennett. 

This finish is all about positioning.

Final Km!

Viviani has dropped back to take a wheel. 

Lotto lead out. 

Viviani!

Sam Bennett jumped first and moved Viviani over to the barriers. But the Italian fought for his space and still had the power to kick again and win. 

Viviani does not too bothered. He's happy to celebrate with his teammates. 

Bennett's change of line could see him punished by race judges.

He didn't slam the door closed on Viviani and so the Italian used his shoulder to make contact and then kicked again to win.

Viviani punched the air in celebration of his second consecutive stage win.

Sacha Modolo of EF was second and Sam Bennet third. 

This is the provisional top ten on the stage: 

Viviani won the stage but still spoke his mind about Bennett’s move across the road.

Here is the first image of Viviani winning the sprint in Eilat

He looks happy. 

Rohan Dennis remains the race leader and will take the pink jersey to Italy tomorrow.

"It was a very long day and a little stressful with the wind," Dennis said.

Viviani is happy to win again and step on the podium. 

He takes a well-deserved sip on the prosecco and throws his flowers to the crowd.

Next up is Rohan Dennis to pull on the pink jersey again. 

This is the new general classification after stage 3. 

Dennis will take the maglia rosa with him to Sicily on Monday after the three opening stages in Israel.

Dennis is happy to keep the pink jersey for the transfer to Italy.

The riders will sleep in Eilat tonight but the team mechanics have just two hours to pack  up the race bikes. They will be flown to Sicily tonight. 

This photo shows how Viviani came through to win the sprint. Bennett moved back to the centre of the road after closing Viviani close to the barriers.

Dennis also opened the prosecco to celebrate holding the pink jersey for another day.

The riders are talking about the fast finale in the desert, the tail wind and slight down hill roads meant the peloton touched close to 80km/h.

To see more great photos from the stage, click here for our full stage report and photo gallery.

Chris Froome spoke briefly in Eilat after finishing safely in the peloton.

This is Chris Froome during stage 3. 

To  understand the full flow of the stage, scroll back down through this live coverage.

The riders travel from Israel to Sicily tomorrow during the first rest day.

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