24 Apr 2019

Geoghegan Hart sprints to second

Related riders

Tao Geoghegan Hart sprinted to second place on day three at the Tour of the Alps as Pavel Sivakov retained his overall lead in Italy.

In an absorbing third stage Chris Froome helped the young duo to repel a number of strong attacks from their GC rivals in the closing stages. Both Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) both attempted to push clear but Froome twice rode them down.

It was Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec) who eventually managed to escape, attacking from the elite nine-man front group under the flamme rouge and staying away to take the stage win. Behind, Geoghegan Hart outsprinted Majka to take second and six crucial bonus seconds, while Sivakov finished seventh. Froome, who pulled off with his job done inside the final kilometre, rolled home in 13th.

Those bonus seconds move Geoghegan Hart up to fifth overall, allowing him to jump over Bahrain-Merida teammates Nibali and Hermann Pernsteiner. Sivakov retains his eight-second lead on GC over second-placed Jan Hirt (Astana).

Leonardo Basso had helped set the pace for the team in the early stages, before Salvatore Puccio took over as the climbs started to take hold midway through the stage.

At just 106 kilometres it was the shortest day of the race, but by no means the easiest. A punchy parcours, with two tough climbs in the closing 40 kilometres, saw the peloton undergo a wearing down process, leaving just seven men at the head of affairs with five kilometres to race.

That was when Nibali and Majka launched their biggest attack, but Froome didn’t panic, and slowly brought them back to heel.

He then kept the pace high to deter further GC attacks, before Masnada snuck clear under the flamme rouge to take the stage win.

Stage three result:

1.Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) 2:28:09
2. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) +4"
3. Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) s.t.
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) s.t.
5. Dario Cataldo (Astana) s.t.
7. Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky) s.t.

Overall standings:

1. Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky) 11:27:08
2. Jan Hirt (Astana) +8"
3. Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) +23"
4. Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) +35"
5. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) +37"