Welcome to day number three of the 2022 Tour of America! We've left behind New York, having moved North. About midway between New York and the state's capital city, Albany, we're in Poughkeepsie in the Hudson River Valley. The city name is derived from a word called "U-puku-ipi-sing", which in Wappinger language roughly means "the reed-covered lodge by the little-water place". Sounds nice!
However, humans have taken over from nature a long time ago, and so maybe the most notable sight nowadays is the Mid-Hudson bridge, connecting Poughkeepsie to Highland. Economically speaking, the large IBM campus is of major importance. And the well-known Smith Brothers' Cough Drops were produced here until the 70's.
Also, the annual Hudson Valley Hot-Air Ballon Festival might be worth a stay in the region. But today, the peloton will employ another means of transport - their bikes of course. We'll have a typical flat stage for about 2/3 of the distance - actually until we reach the outskirts of Albany, taking an intermediate sprint in Saugerties after 51km. But instead of directly heading to the finish line - which would make for a stage length of about 100km - the riders will have to tackle the first climbs of the race!
They'll first crest Mount Pigash, a 3rd category climb, reaching the top after 103km. 12 undulating kilomters later, they'll be on top of Frotter Mountain (4th category), then heading back to Mount Pigash, tackling it from the other side. The riders will reach the final KoM sprint of the day - Mount Pigash is rated 3rd category from both sides - after 133 kilometers, meaning that there will be roughly 20 descending and flat kilometers left until the finish line.
And that line, as said before, is in Albany, the capital city of New York state. Just like in Poughkeepsie, the Dutch were the first European colonists settling here, building Fort Nassau and Fort Orange. With the English taking over, the city got its present-day name, and eventually became the capital of New York after the formation of the U.S. Given its situation on the Hudson River's west bank, it's been a center of trade and transportation throughout the late 18th and most of the 19th century.
Albany is know for its architectural richness. One example is Erastus Corning Tower, the tallest building in New York outside of New York City, and part of the Empire State Plaza. If you prefer traditional architecture, the New York State Capitol might be more interesting, though. Or Albany City Hall, the seat of Albany's government. Or the First Church, the oldest congregation in Upstate New York.
Economically speaking, modern technology is of major importance. "Tech Valley" encompasses Albany, the Capital Disctrict and the Hudson Valley, with the marketing name being established to designate a high-tech competitor to e.g. Silicon Valley.
But let's hope that today not only nanotechnology will work well, but also the good old finish line cameras, as well as the timing infrastructure! But who will be the first to trigger the use of that "racing technology"? Will it be a GC rider? A puncheur? An escapee? Or a punchy sprinter?
The bookies think that it should be someone with a certain punch - but their favorites list is actually a pretty mixed bag. GC favorite Bennett is topping it, getting three stars alongside high-level puncheurs Edmondson and Hoelgaard. Then we have two climbers with Barta and Senni, alongside punchy sprinter Rumac. Velasco, Pedrero, Bonnamour and McCormick round off the list - if you find a pattern, please tell me!
But now it's time to take a look at the first about 90 kilometers of the stage, before we'll provide live coverage for the hilly last third of the race!
What happened so far
It's another beautiful day here in America, as the riders tackled today's stage! With the first 17 out of 489 KoM points (maximum for one rider) on offer, we definitely expected a fight for the KoM jersey and hence some attacks!
As soon as the peloton reached the Mid-Hudson Bridge, the first attacks were indeed launched - by two riders who already have some breakaway experience in this race, their names being Richardson and Nolf.
Compared to yesterday, the double Podium Ambition representation was still missing up front, and so Croes and Orosco tried to rectify that. Tusveld and Omarsson were accompanying them.
Despite some hard work mainly by Itami and Haller - who seemed to have zero ambitions today - the six frontrunners eventually reunited.
Eventually, Hecht and Magnusson tried to join the leaders. Haller and Katrasnik were having none of it, though.
With just 2 kilometers to go to the intermediate sprint, Strong was the next to try. With the pack still being 45" down on the breakaway, they had to recognize that they weren't competing for the sprint points today.
Tusveld and Omarsson actually were the only ones sprinting, with the Dutchman being far stronger.
Sprint - Saugerties
1.
Tusveld
10 (10)
-6"
2.
Omarsson
6 (6)
-4"
3.
Croes
4 (4)
-2"
4.
Nolf
2 (14)
5.
Orosco
1
Further back, Richardson was dropped and already caught by Strong. The latter would eventually join the leaders, the former would soon be caught.
The pack finally relented and was already 1'30" down at the sprint point.
So after about 60 kilometers, we finally had the breakaway of the day! Let's recall who was up front:
Strong
Croes
Orosco
Tusveld
Omarsson
Nolf
They were able to increase their advantage - but they were never able to get a gap above 2'30".
And as they're already approaching the rollercoaster part of the stage, let's jump into the live action!
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
Before tackling the KoM trilogy, the riders are first facing a short, uncategorized climb - Cornwallis Hill. Just one to warm up the climbing legs.
The pack is trailing by 1'30".
This intersection marks the start and end of the "hilly circuit"; the finish line, reached by the road to the right, is just about 12km away from here. But the riders will have to cover almost 50 additional kilometers!
Even though Cornwallis Hill is neither steep nor long, it's too much for Orosco.
In the pack, we have Itami, Katrasnik and Haller setting the pace - which therefore can't be too high given that we're going uphill.
The five remaining escapees are still together as they reach the foot of Mount Pigash. They'll first climb this hill from the south, before doing the north side later on.
However, the pack is just 38" behind them!
Soon after - about halfway up the climb - the breakaway completely breaks up. Nolf was the first to be left behind, then we have Omarsson, Tusveld, Strong and up front Croes. It's still Katrasnik setting the pace.
With 1.5km of climbing left, the breakaway is definitely over. Let's see what happens next, as many strong puncheurs are positioned well in the pack!
What happens? Nothing. Well, I mean, absolutely nothing. No attacks, not even for the first KoM points of the race. So they're just gifted to Aquilani. Groselj and Bonello pick up the remaining ones.
KoM - Mount Pigash #1 (3rd)
1.
Aquilani
6
2.
Groselj
4
3.
Bonello
2
Given the slow pace of the peloton, not many riders have lost contact yet. Richardson was in the breakaway, and Itami did a lot of work, so that's understandable. And Taillefour is just a very weak climber.
Actually, Van Asbroeck isn't looking good, either! On the final meters of the climb, he had to leave a gap - which he can easily close right now, but we've got two KoM sprints left!
By the way, Haller was eventually dropped, too, so definitely no redemption for yesterday's failure for him.
That's some pretty weird tactics by Team Popo4Ever! It looks like they're throwing Papanov's white jersey away to help Lutsyshyn, who wouldn't be competitive by any means today anyway!?!
Nor will green jersey wearer Stash, who is just in the next group. And his team sacrifices Costagli - for nothing, probably. Further ahead, Van Asbroeck is back in the big group.
Frotter Mountain is the easiest of the three categorized climbs - and hence it's only a category 4 one. The pace in the pack isn't exactly high.
Again, nothing happens on the climb - except for Groselj crossing the line first and taking over the virtual KoM lead.
KoM - Frotter Mountain (4th)
1.
Groselj
5 (9)
2.
McCormick
3 (3)
3.
De Buyst
1 (1)
It's almost funny how bad this team's strategy is; Lutsyshyn had a flat tire, and his teammates are indeed waiting for him. Don't ask any further questions, please.
Meanwhile, the front of the pack is back at the foot of Mount Pigash - this time on the north side, though. It's much more irregular than the south side, it's longer - but less steep on average. Let's see if we finally, finally get some action!
By the way, the only sprinter still in the front third of the bunch is Eislers, who must be appreciating the low pace quite a lot.
The first kilometer of the climb was rather steep, but with Groselj leading the way, it's clear that the pace still wasn't high. However, on the flat section they've just reached he could do quite some damage!
Another kilometer later, McCormick has taken over. Still no attacks, 4.5km of climbing left.
3km to the top, Pavlic in the lead now. The pace is still not high.
It's enough to definitely shake off some more sprinters, though; Nizzolo, Kristoff and Mareczko are gone as well.
Pavlic is going out of the saddle, but the pack is still huge. Given that there are still about 20km left after the KoM sprint, it's going to be hard to get some kind of selection today!
Finally, some serious racing! Heading onto the final kilometer of the climb, Roman is trying to pull Eriksson clear, providing him some kind of a KoM sprint leadout! Rumac and Moazemi are trying to follow, with Senni and Vasyliv next on the road.
Then we have Campero, Edmondson, Kritskiy, Kuss, Nerz, Betancourt, Zimmermann, Bennett... actually all the big names are there.
Moazemi wasn't able to keep up with Rumac, who is the only one able to follow the Cedevita duo!
Senni is trying to close the gap, with Vasyliv and Edmondson going strong, too.
Someone who isn't going strong anymore though is Van Asbroeck! The race leader is in the second big group, and is actually even struggling to keep up with them!
Up front, the leaders have reached the KoM sprint, where Roman gets full points as a reward for his great work!
KoM - Mount Pigash #2 (3rd)
1.
Roman
6 (6)
2.
Rumac
4 (4)
3.
Eriksson
2 (2)
Which means that Groselj will be wearing the KoM jersey tomorrow!
But more importantly - how much of a gap have they been able to create?
Well, not much. And it's even Rumac's teammates who are trying to catch the leaders! It's going to be a frantic downhill duel between Roman and Destribois - both excellent riders on descending roads!
And it's soon over for the escapees! But as you can see, the front group has become quite small - so let's do some bookkeeping.
Which isn't too hard, actually, given that all the big names are up front. The best climber not in the front group is Manfredi - who is just a domestique for Carapaz, though. And several of the stronger puncheurs haven't made the split, either - most notably Vogt, but also Hugentobler, Skjerping or Velasco.
In terms of sprinters, Eislers is by far the fastest man in the first three groups.
GC leader Van Asbroeck is even further behind - he currently trails the front group by two minutes! With just 15km left, he'll have to hope that the pace up front drops quite a lot if he wants to have a chance of rejoining! Xandri will do whatever he can to help him, but will it be enough?
We're back at the "hilly circuit intersection" - and this time the riders are allowed to take the right-hand road, meaning we have about 12km left to the finish line! It's still Roman leading the front group, but he seems to be tiring, as the chasers are about to rejoin!
In terms of sprinters, Eislers is still the "lone wolf", even if the second group should make the catch - the question is just whether he'd have enough left in the tank to actually compete!
10 kilometers to the finish line! Bonnamour is leading the second group, which includes almost the entire Bonduelle team, as well as a couple of Amaysim and McCormick riders.
Attack! Betancourt tries his luck on the short downhill section after the 10km mark - but well, attacking on a descent when pursued by Destribois and Roman is a pretty hopeless undertaking for almost anyone. It definitely is for the Colombian.
Eriksson and Moazemi finally try to turn their teams' great work into a notable stage result, as they're the next riders to attack! Betancourt has missed the perfect moment and is trying to latch on - with just below 6km to go, this move could definitely lead somewhere!
And Betancourt indeed is able to make the catch with 5km to go, Bouchard in his wheel making this a fantastic situation for Cedevita!
Behind, it's surprisingly Kuss who makes the next move - no puncheur by any means, and not even a rider with a good kick, but he still goes for it! Vasyliv tries to keep his wheel - but what we said about the American pretty much holds for the German as well.
Further back, it's Brandt, Aru, Zimmermann and Bennett trying to follow, with the latter already having a gap over Pluchkin! Other GC favorites are yet to react - or even to come to the front of the pack!
Pluchkin is able to join the group of 5 ahead of him - from which Kuss has broken free, trying to catch up with the leading foursome!
4 kilometers to go - and while the gaps are still small, they might still be important in the end!
Speaking of small gaps, this is not true for Van Asbroeck, who will definitely lose his yellow jersey after just one day - let's find out to whom!
One kilometer later, Betancourt is done and has lost contact to the now three remaining leaders! What is surprising though is that Eriksson - the rider with the strongest acceleration in this group - is doing all the work for his clearly slower teammate Bouchard! Moazemi doesn't have to do anything and can just benefit from the Swede's huge work!
Kuss is still on his own, trailing the front of the race by 20", with the group of 6 - consisting of Zimmermann, Pluchkin, Bennett, Aru, Vasyliv and Brandt - 10 seconds further down!
However, Fedeli is about to bring the rest of the big chase group back! In the background, we can spot the yellow jersey group - but they're still 1'20" behind what's considered to be the peloton!
Just 2 kilometers left - and while Kuss is closing in on Betancourt, it looks like a hopeless untertaking to get a podium spot today. However, gaining some time over the pack and taking a Top 5 would still be great for the U.S. native!
And this doesn't look bad at all, as the 62 rider strong chase group is 22 seconds behind!
Up front, we still have Eriksson do all the work - clearly Bouchard must feel stronger than his teammate today!
Red kite! Still the same order - Eriksson, Bouchard, Moazemi! Let's see who's got most left in the tank!
By the way, Eriksson is the best placed of these three in the GC, trailing Van Asbroeck by 53" - and Pluchkin, who's the best placed rider in the peloton, by 37". Which means that with a stage win, they'd have to gain at least 17" over the pack so he could take the GC lead - which easily is the case currently.
Moazemi is just one second further back, with Bouchard trailing both by more than 20" - he'd need a gap to overtake them in the GC.
So this means that whoever between Eriksson and Moazemi finishes ahead of the other will likely be our new GC leader - if the pack can't close the 44" gap they currently have!
The sprint is on with 500m to go! Eriksson did a good leadout for Bouchard, but now is already fading, meaning that he'll probably miss out on the yellow jersey!
Further back, Kuss has almost caught up with Betancourt - they still have a 24" advantage over the pack, so it looks like they'll be fighting for 4th place!
Without too much of a surprise, Moazemi, who's a faster sprinter with a stronger kick than Bouchard, takes the lead with 300m to go! Can he hold on?
Of course he can! Arvin Moazemi wins stage 3 of the 2022 Tour of America, ahead of the Cedevita duo of Geoffrey Bouchard and Lucas Eriksson! Congratulations!
Further behind, Kuss has already gone past Betancourt with 500m to go - and the Colombian doesn't seem to have anything left to strike back!
Eenkhoorn is leading the peloton on the final kilometer - Philips are definitely losing the yellow jersey today, and they're just trying to limit the gap to those ahead!
Sepp Kuss easily brings home 4th place - although it's not a podium, the American clearly showed today that he's in good shape, and he should actually (surprisingly) gain some time against all the GC top favorites today!
Carlos Betancourt has to settle for 5th place - he just didn't have enough in the tank for an even better result. These two are 31" behind the stage winner.
Pascal Eenkhoorn apparently had some good legs today, as he leads home the peloton after having been in the wind throughout the final kilometer! 6th place with a 45" deficit for him - which means that the peloton loses 14" to Kuss.
Jan-Andre Freuler, Alex Ariya Destribois, George Bennett and Manuel Senni round off the Top 10. All of the main GC favorites are in this group.
As seen earlier, one rider who didn't finish inside the peloton was GC leader Van Asbroeck. He'll swap yellow for green, though, as he'll keep a good advantage in the points standings.
Richardson and Taillefour are the last riders on the road, losing 16'10" today. The Frenchman will take over the red lantern.
Not the last, but the first rider crossing the finish line was Arvin Moazemi! The Iranian was the strongest, but maybe primarily the most clever rider today, winning ahead of Cedevita duo Geoffrey Bouchard and Lucas Eriksson. The men in orange once again confirmed their manager's saying:
redordead wrote:
Another hilly stage means another day where we work for other teams.
Still, they took two podium spots today and probably shouldn't be too mad about this - and given that we have three more hilly stages upcoming in the next three days, there's plenty of chances to do even better!
We mentioned it during the last kilometers - the one between Arvin Moazemi and Lucas Eriksson to finish ahead of the other will take the yellow jersey - and so it belongs to our Iranian stage winner! Could he even be the first GC leader from his home country in one of the four Grand Tours? In any case, it must be a special day for him, congratulations!
Lucas Eriksson therefore is 2nd, 11" back, with Geoffrey Bouchard making it a 2-3 for Cedevita. Local hero Kuss is 4th, just five seconds further down - and might be dreaming of getting that jersey tomorrow...
We have no change on top of the points standings - and given the nature of the next stages, it's almost a given that Tom Van Asbroeck will keep teh green jersey for at least one more day.
Mamyr Stash and Arvin Moazemi are now tied for 2nd, totalling 30 points each - that is 36 less than the Belgian.
We also have our first KoM leader - and this time it's Cedevita's turn to celebrate, as Matic Groselj scored most points today! He did this by "just" doing his domestique duties, thereby picking up 9 points. Andrea Aquilani and Aleksandar Roman have 6 points each.
Given Team Popo4Ever's questionable strategy of letting Papanov drop back to help some sprinter without any chances to do something useful today, we also get a new U25 leader. It's Pascal Eenkhoorn, who trailed the Bulgarian by just 1" and hence is the logical successor.
Thymen Arensman is 2nd, 6" back, with Alex Hoehn coming next at + 11".
As a result of having two riders in the front group, Cedevita are the new leaders in the team standings! They're now a full minute clear of Kraftwerk Man Machine, with Philips - Force India 19" further behind.
So, what did we have today? A very hectic start, with the pack chasing the escapees for almost 50km - and even catching them on the first KoM climb. Then a really dull race over the hills - and finally a decisive attack inside the final 10km. None of the GC riders got reall caught off guard - let's see what will happen tomorrow, with a pretty tough hill at the end of the day! Hope you'll tune in again tomorrow!
Tour of America 
