Ivan Santaromita (BMC Racing) outsprinted Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) to win stage three of the Giro del Trentino and claim the his first victory since 2010.
Santaromita, Tiralongo and Scarponi had formed part of the day’s break on the rolling 176.1km stage and, after Scarponi initially forged clear on the final climb, the trio came back together on the 16km run-in to the finish and it was Santaromita who won the sprint.
Maxime Bouet (Ag2r La Mondiale) continues to lead the race, while stage two winner Kanstantsin Siutsou (Team Sky) lies second, three minutes and nineteen seconds adrift. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) is third, an additional 29 seconds back, with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) a further nine seconds behind Wiggins going into Friday’s final stage.
The concluding stage includes two major climbs, finishing with the ascent of Sega di Ala, which tops out at 1,239m after 14km of climbing with an average gradient of eight per cent.
The steep climb, the second of two summit finishes in the mountainous four-day race, includes ramps of 20 per cent but race leader Bouet remains hopeful that he can hold off the challenge of Wiggins and Nibali.
“I will need to cover the Astana guys, as they have plenty of riders who are very suited to high gradients like Sega di Ala’s,” said the stage 1a winner. “With such an advantage and the condition I had three weeks ago, I could have negotiated through [Friday] with little worry. Nevertheless, I am still hoping for this – for myself and for my team, who are doing an outstanding job.”
Giro del Trentino 2013 – stage three – result
1) Ivan Santaromita (ITA) BMC Racing – 4:26:25 hours
2) Paolo Tiralongo (ITA) – Astana – same time
3) Michele Scarponi (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
4) Stefano Locatelli (ITA) – Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox +34″
5) José C Sarmiento Tunarrosa (COL) – Cannondale Pro Cycling – same time
6) Antonio Piedra Perez (SPA) – Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
7) Stefano Pirazzi (ITA) – Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 1’12”
8) Enrico Battaglin (ITA) – Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox +1’23”
9) Emanuele Sella (ITA) – Androni Giocattoli – same time
10) Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (COL) – Androni Giocattoli
General classification
1) Maxime Bouet (FRA) – Ag2r La Mondiale – 13:23:36 hours
2) Kanstantin Siutsou (BLR) – Team Sky +3’19”
3) Bradley Wiggins (GBR) – Team Sky +3’48”
4) Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) – Astana +3’57”
5) Mauro Santambrogio (ITA) – Vini Fantini-Selle Italia +4’06”
6) Fabio Aru (ITA) – Astana +4’19”
7) Alexsandr Dyachenko (KAZ) – Astana +4’20”
8) Stefano Pirazzi (ITA) – Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox +4’27”
9) Pierre Rolland (FRA) – Europcar +4’49”
10) Przemyslaw Niemiec (POL) – Lampre-Merida +4’52”
