Giro d’Italia 2025 continued with Sunday’s stage 3, which was the third and final stage contested on Albanian soil. The riders will contest stage 3 on a 160-kilometer somewhat mountainous route from Vlore and back.

Joshua Tarling had won Saturday’s stage 2 time trial for his Ineos-Grenadiers team ahead of Primoz Roglic and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates). Primoz Roglic was leading the Giro general classification ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Mads Pedersen was predicted to have a decent chance of winning stage 3, if he was able to stay with the front of the race on the Qafa e Llogarese climb – the category 2 climb had an average gradient of 7.5 percent over a 10.5-kilometer distance. Teammate Mathias Vacek was an outsider to take the victory.

The riders gathered in Vlore under sunny skies for the start of stage 3 of Giro d’Italia 2025.

It did not take long after the start before breakaway attempts were launched as several teams and riders were eager to animate the stage, hoping to shine early in the three-week race and taking tomorrow’s recovering rest day into account.

Yesterday’s stage winner Joshua Tarling (Ineos-Grenadiers) joined forces with Chris Hamilton (Team Picnic-PostNL), Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), and Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ) and formed an attacking quartet. Dries de Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R) and Alessandro Tonelli (Team Polti – Visit Malta) had formed a chasing duo and were trying to bridge the gap to the frontmen. 

After 23 kilometers of fast racing and with 137 kilometers remaining, the front quartet had fought its way to an advantage of 02:30 minutes, while De Bondt and Tonelli were chasing 27 seconds behind the front men. Riders from Lidl-Trek were spearheading the main peloton to keep the attackers at bay, while preserving the interests of team leader Pedersen.

De Bondt and Tonelli succeeded at making the leap to the front group and the six men fused their forces and pressed on to increase their lead over the chasing peloton.

105 kilometers remained and riders from Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe were assisting Lidl-Trek riders with the chase work at the front of the main peloton. At this point in the stage, the front sextet had a time advantage of three minutes.

The riders in the Giro were approaching the Qafa Shakelles (Category 4) climb, of which the last kilometer had an average gradient of 8.6 percent. The green forest territory was of great value and joy to spectators along the route and at home.

Donovan was the first rider to reach the summit of Qafa Shakelles and secured the most points for the best climber classification. Beyond this, everything was status quo.

Jayco-Alula riders joined Lidl-Trek and Red Bull riders at the front of the main peloton to contribute to the chase work.

Dries de Bont suffered a flat tire on a short hill climb that led the riders onto the Qafa e Llogarase climb and had to wait for help from the neutral support vehicle.

The front quintet had an advantage of one minute as they hit the Category 2 ramp of Qafa e Llogarase. It would likely be difficult for the frontmen to keep the main peloton away. Patrick Konrad was leading the main peloton up the climb. 47 kilometers remained before the finish line.

Pello Bilbao (Team Bahrain Victorious), James Knox (Soudal-QuickStep), and Lorenzo Fortunato attacked from the main peloton on the climb. The chasers were working hard to reel in the front group, where Tarling hard been dropped. They were twenty seconds behind with six kilometers of the climb remaining.

The breakaway groups were reshuffled on the climb. With three kilometers of the climb remaining, Pello Bilbao, Chris Hamilton, Alessandro Tonelli, Lorenzo Fortunato, and Lorenzo Germani were racing towards the top of the climb.

Bilbao and Fortunato left their breakaway companions behind in the final part of the climb. 

Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) moved to the front of the main peloton on the climb. Other GC favorites were also close to the front of the main peloton as they wanted to be well-positioned for the fast descent. 

Fortunato was the first rider to reach the summit of the climb and earned the maximum points for the best climber classification. Bilbao and Fortunato entered the descent followed by Hamilton.

Hamilton got caught by the chasing main peloton on the very fast descent and only Bilbao and Fortunato remained breakaway optimists. The duo had a lead of 40 seconds with 28 kilometers left before the finish line.

Bilbao and Fortunato were reeled in by the chasing peloton with eighteen kilometers left. The chance of success for Mads Pedersen and other sprinters in today’s stage were increasing. Several teams were active at the front in support of sprinters and GC favorites. EF Education-EasyPost, Jayco-Alula, UAE Team Emirates, and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders were spotted.

Jonathan Castroviejo set a fast pace at the front of the peloton with eleven kilometers to the stage finish. The speed was still intense with seven kilometers left. It appeared stage 3 would culminate in a sprint finish.

Riders from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were leading the peloton for team captain and race leader Primoz Roglic at the three-kilometer mark. A stray dog almost struck the riders at the front of the peloton. Fortunately, the dog did not hit any riders.

Ciccone led the riders into the final kilometer for Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek. Vacek took over. 600 meters remained.

Mads Pedersen started his sprint, but so did Corbin Strong.

Mads Pedersen (Team Lidl-Trek) proved the fastest man on the day. Pedersen won the sprint and took the victory in stage 3 of Giro d’Italia. His second stage victory in this year’s Giro. Corbin Strong finished second, while Orluis Aular completed the stage podium for Team Movistar.

“It was the plan of our team from the morning to set a fast pace on the climb and everyone on the team did amazing on the climb and also earlier,” stage winner Mads Pedersen told Roadcycling.com shortly after the stage finish. 

“We hoped for some drag racing and Vacek did an amazing leadout for me. Now I’m back in pink, which is exactly what we wanted to achieve today. Our great teamwork shows what we are able to do on our team Lidl-Trek and I am looking forward to paying back to Ciccone in the mountains to come,” Pedersen explained.

Denmark’s Mads Pedersen is the new man in the pink jersey as leader of Giro d’Italia 2025. Primoz Roglic is second in the GC, nine seconds behind Pedersen. Mathias Vacek is third, while Brandon McNulty is fourth and Juan Ayuso fifth.

Following today’s stage, the riders will board planes and fly to Italy for the first rest day of the race, before this year’s Giro continues with stage 4 on Tuesday. The team trucks and various race caravan equipment will be transported to Italy by three chartered ferries.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete news and coverage from Giro d’Italia 2025.