Today's race was decided in the very last meters in a final sprint between four teams. Matthew Beers (RSA) of the Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne team played tactically knowing that his partner Christopher Blevins (USA) is a very good sprinter, former Short Track World Champion.
And it worked, with Blevins trailing behind Beers. It is the second consecutive stage win for Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne. Georg Egger (GER) and Lukas Baum (GER) of the ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company team finished in 2nd place. The Wilier Pirelli Factory team, Fabian Rabensteiner (ITA) and Wout Alleman (BEL) finished in third place while the general classification leaders Nino Schurter (SUI) and SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing's Andri Frischknecht (SUI) finished in fourth place, but without losing precious time.
"Today was really tough. I suffered in the first part of the race and I told Fabian to slow down because I was struggling, I thought we would have lost a lot of time, but after a few kilometers I recovered and we got back to the leading group and I started feeling better and better. Not enough to win the final sprint, but I'm really happy to be on the podium again today” – Wout Alleman.
"I felt really good today, Wout instead struggled a bit, I helped him as much as I could, then on the long climb I slowly increased my pace and we got back to the leading group. We fought until the end and took a good third place”- Fabian Rabensteiner.
The Italians did well, with the Wilier Pirelli cup in 3th place, winners in the first stage, and the Porro/Nibali couple always in the Top10 in 9th place.
The women's race was dominated by overall leaders Amy Wakefield (RSA) and Candice Lill (RSA) of e-FORT.net | SeattleCoffeeCo. It was a brilliant run from the South African pair and they were able to extend their lead. NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized's Sofia Gomez Villafane (ARG) and Katerina Nash (CZE) secured second place with a delay of 2 minutes and 57 seconds. Team Efficient Infiniti Insure of Kim Le Court (MRI) and Vera Looser (NAM) third.
STAGE 3 MEN
| 1 | Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne | Matthew BEERS | Christopher BLEVINS | 04:07:11.1 |
| 2 | ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company | Georg EGGER | Lukas BAUM | + 00: 00: 01.4 |
| 3 | Wilier Pirelli Factory | Fabian RABENSTEINER | Wout ALLEMAN | + 00: 00: 02.1 |
| 4 | SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing | Nino SCHURTER | Andri FRISCHKNECHT | + 00: 00: 04.0 |
| 5 | Cannondale VAS Arabay | Roberto BOU MARTIN | Miguel MUÑOZ MORENO | + 00: 02: 33.8 |
MEN'S GENERAL AFTER 3 STAGES
| 1. | SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing | Nino SCHURTER | Andri FRISCHKNECHT | 13:32:57.7 |
| 2. | ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company | Georg EGGER | Lukas BAUM | + 00: 03: 12.9 |
| 3. | Wilier Pirelli Factory | Fabian RABENSTEINER | Wout ALLEMAN | + 00: 04: 57.3 |
| 4. | Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne | Matthew BEERS | Christopher BLEVINS | + 00: 07: 40.3 |
| 5. | Canyon Northwave MTB | Andreas SEEWALD | Martin STOSHEK | + 00: 17: 11.3 |
STAGE 3 FEMALE
| 1 | e-FORT.net : SeattleCoffeeCo | Amy WAKEFIELD | Candice LILL | 04:59:42.6 |
| 2 | NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized. | Sofia GOMEZ VILLAFANE | Katerina NASH | + 00: 02: 57.4 |
| 3 | Efficient Infiniti Insure | Kim LE COURT | Vera LOOSER | + 00: 08: 42.1 |
| 4 | Cannondale Vas Arabay. | Greet STEINBURG | Monica Yuliana CALDERON MARTINEZ | + 00: 30: 56.3 |
| 5 | 8capital | Janka KESEG STEVKOVA | Martina KRAHULCOVA | + 00: 32: 23.7 |
FEMALE GENERAL AFTER 3 STAGES
| 1. | e-FORT.net : SeattleCoffeeCo | Amy WAKEFIELD | Candice LILL | 16:45:44.6 |
| 2. | NinetyOne-Songo-Specialized. | Sofia GOMEZ VILLAFANE | Katerina NASH | + 00: 08: 21.4 |
| 3. | Efficient Infiniti Insure | Kim LE COURT | Vera LOOSER | + 00: 19: 22.5 |
| 4. | Cannondale Vas Arabay. | Greet STEINBURG | Monica Yuliana CALDERON MARTINEZ | + 01: 25: 11.5 |
| 5. | 8capital | Janka KESEG STEVKOVA | Martina KRAHULCOVA | + 01: 29: 52.5 |
REPLAY
