Kasia Niewiadoma and her teammates defended the maglia rosa leader’s jersey again today after the third stage of the Giro Rosa Iccrea.

The 104km stage from Sagliano Micca to Piedicavallo had a nail biting finish, with Marianne Vos (CCC) surprising Lucy Kennedy (MTS) with her sprint to overtake the Australian rider in the last metre before the line.

After CANYON//SRAM Racing had controlled the earlier solo breakaway effort from Tayler Wiles (TFS) on the final long climb, Kennedy made a late attack and looked like she had all but sealed the victory, before she was reeled in by Vos in an exciting finish to the third stage.

Niewiadoma finished 12th on the stage, on the same time as the stage winner Vos, and the Polish CANYON//SRAM Racing rider maintains her lead in the general classification.

“I’m really proud of my team today and how we raced together. Coming into the final cobble stone climb it was hectic and after Vos started her sprint like a rocket, I got pushed out to the right and lost some positions but in the end I was able to stay with the front group up that hard finish,” said Niewiadoma.

“My teammates rode like queens today! We’re all happy to keep the maglia rosa for another stage!” added Niewiadoma.

Road captain Tiffany Cromwell, “I think today was another really strong team performance. The start was hectic and fast with the technical nature of the course, but we had everything under control and we all got through that without any trouble.”

“The middle part of the race was pretty uneventful, but we always stayed around each other. In the final, that’s where we really showed our strength as a unit. It was basically a long drag to the finish for the last 30km. There was a tough 2km climb with about 15km to go that we all made it over. From there we rode on the front together pacing it at a good tempo to control the breakaway attempt by Tayler Wiles (TFS).”

Cromwell continued, “Everyone gave their all for the team and our goal of continuing to hold the pink jersey. Kasia was still strong in the final to keep that jersey and we still have Alena (Amialiusik) and Omer (Shapira) high up on GC too. The energy within the team is super positive and I think we’re riding really well together at the moment with so much trust in each other which is important as we go into the next stages.”

Niewiadoma holds a 20 second advantage on the general classification ahead of Vos. Her teammate Alena Amialiusik sits fourth +40 seconds and Omer Shapira is fifth +44 seconds, ahead of tomorrow’s 100km fourth stage from Lissone to Carate Brianza.

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