Giro 2025: Pedersen reclaims maglia rosa with sprint victory

foto: Cor VosWith almost all sprinters dropped on the toughest climb of the day, the Qafa e Llogarasë, Mads Pedersen has virtually a clear run in the final sprint. He powers to an emphatic victory and reclaims the pink jersey. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 3rd stage 2025 Giro

1. Mads Pedersen (den)
2. Corbin Strong (nzl) s.t.
3. Orluis Aular (Ven) s.t.
4. Brandon Smith Rivera (col) s.t.
5. Edoardo Zambanini (ita) s.t.
6. Stefano Oldani (ita) s.t.
7. Andrea Vendrame (ita) s.t.
8. Martin Marcellusi (ita) s.t.
9. Filippo Fiorelli (ita) s.t.
10. Christian Scaroni (ita) s.t.

GC after stage 3
1. Mads Pedersen (den)
2. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 0.09
3. Mathias Vacek (cze) + 0.14
4. Brandon McNulty (usa) + 0.21
5. Juan Ayuso (spa) + 0.25
6. Isaac del Toro (Mex) + 0.26
7. Max Poole (gbr) + 0.33
8. Antonio Tiberi (ita) + 0.34
9. Michael Storer (aus) + 0.36
10. Giulio Pellizzari (ita) + 0.40

Race report
Attacks fly from the gun until Joshua Tarling, Lorenzo Germani, Chris Hamilton and Mark Donovan break clear. Alessandro Tonelli and Dries De Bondt track the quartet down after chasing for 25 kilometres, and the six put 3 minutes into the peloton.

A puncture puts De Bondt out of contention, while the peloton closes in to 30 seconds on the Qafa e Llogarasë. This inspires Lorenzo Fortunato to launch the chase. Pello Bilbao and Gianmarco Garofoli go with him. Meanwhile, almost all sprinters have lost contact on the climb — except for Mads Pedersen.

With 4 kilometres to go to the summit, only Tonelli and Hamilton are left in the lead when Fortunato and Bilbao draw alongside. The final 2 kilometres see the two pressing on together, before the Italian takes maximum KOM points to snatch the mountains jersey from Sylvain Moniquet.

Fortunato and Bilbao are reeled in with plenty of time to spare, handing the stage over to the sprinters. Giulio Ciccone and Mathias Vacek guide Mads Pedersen into the final straight, where the Dane finishes it off — though Corbin Strong mounts a late charge.

With his second win in three days, Pedersen reclaims the pink jersey.

Another interesting read: route 3rd stage 2025 Giro d’Italia.