The 3rd stage of Giro d'Italia is the last stage in the Netherlands. It's once again a stage made for sprinters and no climbs on the route means that Ignatiev will keep the green jersey for at least one more day. Pozzato was no where yesterday but he will try to take his revenge, while the pink jersey wearer, Boasson Hagen, will look for his second stage win in a row
Again, there were 4 riders in the main breakaway of the day: Reimer, Haedo, Mori and Roulston. They had an advantage of over 10 minutes in front of the pack, but thanks to BMC and Sky at the half of the stage it started to go down. Roulston was the last rider to be caught with just 8 kilometers before the finish
The pack headed to an another mass sprint but things didn't go so well as yesterday for Sky. Vigano and Boasson Hagen failed to follow properly Arvesen's wheel, who wasn't in the best position either
In front it was Vacansoleil, and our opponents from the second stage, Acqua & Sapone, who were leading the sprint for Traksel and Failli. Gavazzi, Furlan and Ginanni were also trying to keep it up with Westra and Paolini, who were leading out the trains
But when the actual sprint started, Acqua & Sapone, were gone and Westra was leading the pack for Traksel. Still there were 2 kilometers left and Westra didn't look too fresh, while behind them a bunch of riders were ready to make the decisive move
Traksel entered the last kilometer in the lead but he was followed closely by a group of 4 riders: Gavazzi, Furlan, Ginanni and Pozzato, who seemed to be in a better position than yesterday but he was still quite far from the Dutch, who was leading
None of the 4 Italians were able to take the lead from him and Bobbie Traksel brings an amazing win for Vacansoleil after a great team work, the Dutch team finishing with no less than 4 riders in the top 10 of the stage. Gavazzi and Furlan followed him on the podium
Even though this wasn't Hagen's best day, Traksel wasn't a threat and he keeps his 3 jerseys, the pink one, the red one and the white one. Tomorrow's a rest day and then we will go in Italy for the 4th stage, where we should see some changes in the general classification at the end of the team time - trial
After the rest day we are back in Italy for the fourth stage of the Giro, which is a 32 kilometers team time - trial. Columbia and Caisse d'Epargne are the main favorites, but Sky, RadioShack and Rabobank might also came with some quality results
Acqua & Sapone tried to get a good time for their leader, Stefano Garzelli, but they finished the route in only 45 minutes and 1 second
Liquigas tried the same for Ivan Basso and even though on paper they were looking stronger than Garzelli's team they were in the end only 2 seconds faster
The main guns from RadioShack, Popovych and Brajkovic lead the team perfectly and finished the route with a time of 44 minutes and 37 seconds
Sky didn't look too good at the intermediate checks but in the last part of the race, Wiggins and Hagen took control of the team, being almost impossible for the others to keep it up with them. Simon Gerrans, the fifth rider to cross the finish line even lost a few seconds to them but it was enough to take the lead from the current leaders, Rabobank, by 18 seconds and beat The Shack's time by 46 seconds
Martin, Pinotti and Bak lead the Columbia squad but they only got the same time as Rabobank, 18 second slower than Team Sky
After the great performance in the prologue, Caisse d'Eparnge, lead by Bruseghin, Kiryienka and the former leader, Luis Leon Sanchez, took their revenge from the Romandie TTT and beat Sky's time with only one second, Kiryienka being the first rider to cross the line
But only one second wasn't enough for Sanchez to take back the pink jersey from Hagen, who still has an advantage of 4 seconds in front of the Spaniard. After them the GC is changed, being dominated now by Sky and Caisse d'Epargne riders
The fifth stage is the second stage raced in Italy. Like in the previous two 'normal' stages a mass sprint will be expected. Boasson Hagen and Traksel will be looking for their second win, while Pozzato and the other sprinters will try to get their first in this year's Giro
There were quite a few escapes today, but the strongest proved to be Ignatiev who was first at the top of the both climbs of the day. With the points won today he consolidated his King of the Mountain jersey, which he will most likely keep for another few days
At the top of the second categorized climb of the day, Ballan and Kiryienka, who was third in the general classification. They easily caught and left behind a tired Ignatiev and even though they started the last 20 kilometers with an advantage of almost 2 minutes over the pack they weren't able to enter the last 7 in the lead
Still with the pack's fast pace on the last uphill sections of the day, Arvesen and Vigano were almost dropped off from the pack so it was impossible to see a Sky train in action. Hagen got in the slipstream of the Vacansoleil train, which was the fastest train in the previous sprint. But it was another rider who was leading the pack with 3 kilometers to go, Daniele Pietropolli went there for one of his team - mates but none of the Lampre riders were able to follow him
Inside the last 2 kilometers of the stage he was caught by a pack lead by Boasson Hagen. But Traksel, Failli, Loddo and Pozzato were right behind the Sky rider so the fight for the stage win was still open
Hagen lead the pack since the last 3 kilometers of the stage but that proved to be a too early move by the Norwegian, who lost the lead in the final kilometer to Traksel, while the second spot wasn't looking too good either with the 3 Italians coming strong
And it is Bobbie Traksel who makes the double, bringing another great win for Vacansoleil. Hagen hold on and took the second place in front of Failli, who rounded up the podium today
The second place was enough for Boasson Hagen to keep his all three jerseys but with today's win, Traksel is now only 2 points away to take the read jersey from the Sky rider
The 6th stage is the first serious stage for this year's Giro, with the last climb ending in the last 10 kilometers of the stage. Again a mass sprint is expected but the stage couldn't suit more a rider like Pozzato
There were 7 riders in today's main breakaway group. Kuschynski was only 2 points away from taking the green jersey, while Tjallingii was 6 points behind the Russian. The escapes were caught at the top of the second categorized climb of the day
Katusha dominated the pack today chasing down the escapes and then leading the pack halfway trough the last climb of the day for Pozzato. Still when his team - mates weren't able to control the race anymore, the Italian started having some problems
At the summit, Pereiro, Cancellara, Basso, Gerrans, Boasson Hagen and Wiggins were leading the pack but neither of them was strong enough and the pack head to a mass sprint on the downhill
With just 3 kilometers to go, when the actual sprint started, Gerrans was leading the pack, while his team - mate, the pink jersey wearer, Boasson Hagen was stuck behind a Lampre train
But the Norwegian was able to find his way out and took the lead from Gerrans right before the final kilometer of the stage. But only 500 meters later he lost it to Ginanni, who was perfectly positioned behind him
Nobody was able to stop Ginnani and he brought Androni Giocattoli an amazing win, while Hagen took his second place in a row. Pozzato lost in the final meters the third place to Cunego, in a top 10 dominated by Italian riders
Another podium helped Bosson Hagen extend his lead but with the first week almost over, he won't be able to enjoy the pink jersey for too long
Same time with the Giro, in France the Tour de Picardie is held. Ben Swift will lead Team Sky here in his preparation for the Tour de France in July. It's a 4-days race made for sprinters, Haedo and Bos being the other main favorites here
There were quite a few escapes today but neither of them was strong enough to hold on in front off the pack, all of them being caught before the last climb of the day. Mazet was the strongest on the previous climbs and the 8 points won helped him get the KoM jersey at the end of the day
With no other big moves on the last climb, the pack head to a mass sprint. The Sky train lead by Flecha for Downing and Swift was the fastest in the pack but the other sprinters, such as Rossi, Haedo and Hammond, got in our slipstream
Flecha and Downing put Swift in a perfect position inside the last kilometer but the Brit wasn't strong enough to hold on to the lead and he lost it in the final kilometers to Rossi, who brought Haedo with him as well
The Italian had no problems in the final meters and took the opening stage. Haedo finished second, while the next spots were taken by the three Sky riders
If yesterday we saw some interesting moves on the last climb of the day, today we might see even some time gaps between the favorites. Again Pozzato is the main favorite on paper but with his recent results in the Giro it will be rather a surprise to see him winning the stage
There were quite a lot of riders in today's main breakaway, Rabobank, Quick Step and Astana even sent riders there, but again they had no chance against a pack lead perfectly by Katusha. Tjallingii, who is the yesterday's breakaway as well, was very close to take the KoM jersey from Ignatiev, but the Russian will wear the green jersey again tomorrow
The escapes were caught at the foot of the final climb and 3 kilometers before the summit we had the first moves in the pack. Gerrans attacked and quite a lot of riders tried to follow him, including Popovych and the pink jersey wearer, Edvald Boasson Hagen
But the Aussie wasn't strong enough to maintain the lead and at the summit he was only in the fourth position. Albasini, Bertolini and Popovych proved to have stronger legs than him today
Inside the last kilometer, Albasini was leadin, with Bertolini and Popovych trying to follow him, while behind them a group of 14 riders, lead by Gerrans and Hagen, looked like breaking away from the pack
Bertolin had no chance to stop Albasini in the final meters and the Swiss took the stage win. Popovych got the third place and won some important bonification seconds
Cunego and Hagen lead the second group, 15 seconds behind the first three riders, but they also won 35 seconds over the pack where most of the favorites were, including Wiggins
Wiggins lost a few seconds to Martin and Kiryienka and around one minute today to Popovych today, but the most important news for Sky is that Hagen keeps the pink jersey before the first high mountain finish of this year's Giro
Enrico Rossi will be looking to make the double in Tour de Picardie, while Ben Swift will try to top yesterday's 3rd place even though today's stage looks a little bit harder, being longer and with a steeper hill inside the last 10 kilometers
There were 17 riders in the day's breakaway but they had no chance against the pack and they were all caught before or at the foot of the last climb. One of the BMC riders present in the breakaway, Thomas Frei, got 12 KoM points, which is 4 more than what Mazet achieved in the first stage
Just like in the opening stage, Flecha lead perfectly our train and once again it was Rossi and Haedo who got in our slipstream. Just like yesterday, Hammond was the main rider for Cervelo, while Bos was caught behind
Even though Flecha and Downing did again an amazing job, Swift failed to take the lead properly in the last kilometer, after getting quite tired on the last climb of the day
It was just like yesterday, Rossi who got the lead inside the last kilometer and took the stage win in front of Haedo. But this time the Sky rider who got the third place was Downing and not Swift, who finished only 9th
The eighth stage in Giro means the first high mountain finish this year. The stage will finish on Terminillo after 184 kilometers in the saddle. This will probably be the last day for Hagen in pink, the main favorites for the stage win today being Wiggins, Basso and Garzelli
There were quite a lot of escapes in the breakaway today but neither of them was a strong climber and nobody was interested in the King of the Mountains jersey, which means that Ignatiev will enjoy the jersey for at least one more day
Fifty kilometers before the finish, one of the Caisse guns, David Arroyo attacked from the pack and even though he had an advantage of over 2 minutes over the pack, he never joined the leading group of escapes and he was brought back in the pack at the foot of Terminillo
Only a few moments after the pack reached the first steps of Terminillo, we also had the first moves there. Igor Anton attacked and a couple of riders followed him. Still the Spaniard wasn't strong enough to continue his attack. The only rider that got a gap and joined what was left from the breakaway group was Bradley Wiggins
At the ten kilometers banner Wiggins was leading the race and controlling the pace, Matthias Frank the only escapes left on the road, being the only rider able to follow him even by only just
Still only 3 kilometers later, the BMC rider lost the contact with Wiggins and he was caught by a pack lead by Acqua & Sapone, Liquigas and the Caisse riders. But there are no good news for their leaders as Wiggins is already almost one minute in front
Meanwhile, the pink jersey wearer, Edvald Boasson Hagen, was caught in a gruppetto, with Gerrans and Pauwels protecting him but he is most likely going to lost the race lead at the end of the climb
With just 5 kilometers left from the climb, Wiggins was still leading and the good news for him is that his chasers were never able to get a lower gap than 40 seconds behind him
Pozovivo tried a move in the chasing group but all the favorites, lead by Popovych and Brushegin, were able to follow him and the only good thing that came from that was that they won a few seconds over Wiggins
With 3 kilometers to go, Ivan Basso took the lead in the chasing group and only a few riders were able to keep it up with him, Sanchez, Anton and Garzelli hardly keeping his wheel
But it was impossible to catch Wiggins who was soon entering the final kilometer of the climb. Just one kilometer between the Brit and an amazing win
Behind him, only Sanchez was able to hold on in front of Basso, all the other riders just trying to keep the gap as small as possible
And Bradley Wiggins takes the first big stage in this year Giro d'Italia after an amazing solo ride in the last 10 kilometers of Terminillo!
Basso took the second place but losing 43 seconds is definitely not good news for him after also losing over one minute in front of Wiggins in the time - trials. Sanchez finished third and he was the last rider to lose less than one minute to Wiggins
Hagen lost the pink jersey but it's another Sky rider who gets it. Wiggins is the new leader of the Giro, with the first pink jersey wearer, Luis Leon Sanchez 56 seconds behind him. Ivan Basso is more than 2 minutes behind him, on the third spot, while Garzelli is already more than 3 minutes behind, on the 9th place
