PA Media/DPA
Rome
Tim Merlier won stage three of the Giro d?Italia in a sprint finish on Monday but only after Geraint Thomas joined race leader Tadej Pogacar in a late bid to upset the fast men.
The short climb into Fossano at the end of the 166km stage from Novara provided the launch pad for late attacks on a day earmarked for the sprinters, with Thomas and Pogacar following a move first started by EF Education’s Mikkel Honore.
The Dane soon faded but UAE Team Emirates’ Pogacar, racing for the first time in the leader?s pink jersey, decided to push on with two kilometres left, and Ineos Grenadiers rider Thomas had no choice but to follow the only man ahead of him in the general classification.
Despite opening up a sizable gap they were caught a little over 200 metres from the line as Soudal-QuickStep?s Merlier came through to pip Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay, but it was another show of strength from Pogacar ? albeit the sort of effort he might pay for down the line.
“That wasn’t the plan!,” Thomas told reporters. “I saw Honore go and then Pogacar and I thought, ‘I might as well go but jeepers, that was solid. He’s kicking my head in.’
“I was just trying to hold his wheel, trying to give him a turn but, phwoar, it was solid. I looked back and was surprised to see such a big gap but I knew they were going to come back, especially with how I was feeling.
“It’s been a good start, I’m feeling all right and hopefully it will continue to build.”
Pogacar leads overall by 46 seconds from Thomas, with Dani Martinez one second further back in third.
