LIVE: 2026 Giro d'Italia Stage 3: Magnier doubles up!

Hello everyone, and welcome to Domestique's live coverage for stage 3 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia.

The riders are now in the neutral zone, on their way to the official start.

Key information:

Start: 12:15 (CET)
Estimated Finish: 16:20 (CET)
Stage type: flat
Stage length: 175.28km
Elevation gain: 1398m

Intermediate sprint - 89.2km to go
Borovets pass | 2nd category climb - 7.1km at 5.9% - 71.8km to go
Red Bull km (bonification sprint) - 13km to go

The riders are underway!

The leader in the KOM classification, Diego Pablo Sevilla, directly joins the break again, together with Tarozzi and Tonelli!

The peloton lets the three go, and they have already built their gap to over a minute.

The Kazach team puts a rider on the front, honouring the pink jersey.

With 79 kilometres remaining, the route will reach the second category Borovets Pass. At 7.1 kilometres in length and an average gradient of 5.9 percent, it is not the longest climb of the race, but it should be enough to shake up the rhythm and test the legs.

UAE was torn apart by the crash, losing Adam Yates, Marc Soler and Jay Vine.

Read more:
UAE dismantled by stage 2 crash: Adam Yates also abandons Giro
UAE issue updates on Soler and Vine following Giro crash

It seems like Dylan Groenewegen is feeling fine after his crash in stage 1, as the Unibet Rose Rockets also put a rider on the front. There was fear for a wrist fracture at first, but he was cleared afterwards, and is seemingly recovering well.

The leaders have built their gap to over 2 minutes.

“It is such a hard sport,” he said. “If you are still scared on the bike after something like that, you are at the back before you know it and then you are done. Then you can also forget about your GC ambitions. It is what it is, and you just have to continue.”

Read more:
'I never want to hear that sound again' - Arensman survives first Giro test after frightening crash

Van Aert is currently riding solo towards the win in Marly Grav. Will he be missed by Vingegaard in this year's Giro d'Italia? Last year, he was the key factor in Simon Yates' Giro win in stage 20.

"Yes. This was a bit different, but of course," Vingegaard said when asked whether the crash reminded him of his own Itzulia experience. "It was a bad crash, and it looked very slippery. I hope everyone is ok. They crashed right in front of me."

Read more:
'It was a bad crash, and it looked very slippery' - Vingegaard navigates Giro stage 2 chaos

The leaders still have a gap of a little over 2 minutes, as the leading trio is currently riding with an average of 41km/h. Soudal Quick-Step also puts someone on the front of the peloton.

With Elia Viviani, Netcompany INEOS has a sports director who can teach the riders a lot about sprints. Will that help Ben Turner today?

After yesterday's crash, a lot of riders are hurt pretty badly and thus have to receive treatment to continue. Cycling is the most beautiful sport, but it can also be very rough sometimes.

Will the Italian come out on top today? He is our favourite for the day, with 5 stars.

It's the birthday of the beautiful Maglia Rosa!

Even with Marc Soler and Jay Vine crashing out, and Adam Yates, who couldn't start today, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG riders still have a lot of ambition for the remainder of the Giro.

In an interview with Cycling Pro Net, Jonathan Milan talks about the consequences of yesterday's crash.

"They (Derek Gee and Max Walscheid) feel the crash, of course."

"Today we have another possibility, for sure I'm motivated."

In an interview with Cycling Pro Net, Paul Magnier talks about how he feels after the first two stages.
 

"I'm not too tired yet, and still very motivated and confident." 

"It'll be a very fast final."

The riders have currently completed 75km, with still 100km to go. The breakaway still has an advantage of 2'52. 

Kaden Groves also talked to Cycling Pro Net about how he's feeling after the crash, but in his case, the crash was in stage 1.

"I had some pretty bad moments on the bike yesterday. We'll see how it is today. I feel pretty sore; it was a nasty crash."

In 2km, the riders will get to sprint for points for the Maglia Ciclamino.

The first 3 spots will go to the breakaway, but the peloton still gets the chance to grab the remaining points; 3 points for who wins the sprint out of the peloton and ends 4th, and 1 point for who finishes 2nd out of the peloton.

8km after the intermediate sprint, the ascent of the Borovec Pass starts.

Out of the breakaway, Tarozzi wins the intermediate sprint.

In the peloton, Jonathan Milan takes the remaining 3 points before his own teammate, Max Walscheid.

As the riders have completed 87.5km, they are halfway through the stage.

The leading three will start the ascent of the Borovec pass with a 2'30 bonus.

Magnier is wearing the Maglia Ciclamino with 55 points, a 20-point lead on Lund Andresen and a 26-point lead on Milan.

Will the Frenchman still be the owner of the beautiful jersey after today's stage?

7.1 kilometres in length and an average gradient of 5.9 percent

Tarozzi makes a heart gesture to the camera; even in the middle of a Giro stage, he seems to think of Mother's Day!

Will there be a team that will go at a higher pace to hurt other sprinters, or will the pace stay relaxed?

Clearly still feeling the consequences of his illness after Famenne Ardenne, De Lie is clearly suffering.

However, Victor Campenaerts, riding for Visma | Lease a Bike, so not a teammate of De Lie, is so kind that he takes the bottle of Le Taureau, so the Belgian has to carry less weight.

Campenaerts is helping De Lie in every way he can, but the Lotto Intermarché rider is still dropped.

Once more, Diego Pablo Sevilla grabs the KOM points, extending his lead.

Fellow teammates Jonas Rutsch and Joshua Giddings have waited on De Lie, but the Belgian is struggling to hold the wheel.

Scaroni wins the KOM sprint out of the peloton.

De Lie is over one and a half minutes behind.

The advantage of the breakaway is slowly coming down, with a little over 2 minutes remaining.

With the amazing work of Giddings and Rutsch, De Lie is coming closer to the peloton again.

The gap to the breakaway has been reduced to a minute.

The riders will make their way to the finish fast, as the last 44km are slightly downhill, and the pressure for the sprint finish is building up, ensuring a high pace.

Will he still have the energy to contest the sprint, or will Lotto Intermarché now ride for Milan Menten?

The breakaway is fighting to stay ahead as long as possible, with only 40" of lead remaining.

With the headwind all day and the climb in the middle of the stage, the average speed of the three in front is impressive.

As mentioned in the preview, the finish is placed on a flat cobblestone section, adding an extra challenge for the sprinters.

The breakaway is giving everything, as their gap increases to a minute again.

With 15km to go, the Dane endures a flat tire, but he's quickly making his way back between the cars.

As we're getting closer and closer to the finish, the pace in the peloton is high, and the breakaway is losing its advantage.

In a fierce sprint against Sevilla, it's Tarozzi who comes out on top.

Only 10km to go, the pressure is building up!

It looks like the Dutchman can continue, but Van Uden loses an important leadout man like this.

With 6km to go, the three in front still have a gap of 20".

The leadout trains are organising themselves.

The breakaway doesn't lose any terrain on the peloton; however, the straight road in the final doesn't make it any easier for them.

The breakaway still isn't caught! They still have a gap of 10"!

Milan started the sprint very early, but it's Magnier taking the win ahead of Milan! Groenewegen finishes third.

Stage 3 brought us a really nice sprint finish, fortunately this time without any major crashes.

Report: Paul Magnier takes second stage win in the 3rd stage of the Giro d'Italia