Yesterday it was Mark Cavendish; today, Sky Procycling triumphed again in Tirreno-Adriatico, although this time the victory came courtesy of Edvald Boasson Hagen.
The team was working to set world champion Cavendish up for a second consecutive victory, but the Manxman wasn’t feeling at full strength and his Norwegian team-mate got the chance instead.
He seized the opportunity, going from a long way out and proving strong enough to hold off the in-form sprinter André Greipel (Lotto Belisol), Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda).
“I found out at about six kilometres to go that Mark didn't feel so good and I knew I'd be sprinting,” he said afterwards on the team website. “The whole team did a good job to keep me up towards the front. The guys with me did a really great job in the last kilometre. I'm really happy to win and that we managed to get the victory.
"It was a long sprint but I went and I knew I had to go for it. I know that I'm pretty good at long sprints and I've done it before. You never know what the other guys will do but it worked out well.
“Now we'll take it day by day. We have Thomas here for the GC so we will help him where we can and see where we end up.”
Overall race leader Matthew Goss (GreenEdge) finished sixth and retained his general classification advantage. He is three seconds ahead of team-mates Stuart O’Grady, Cameron Meier and Sebastian Langeveld, with Farrar and Boasson Hagen a further ten seconds back.
His directeur sportif Matt White said afterwards that he is feeling good about the rider’s chances for the defence of his Milan-Sanremo title next week.
“This was actually the first sprint of the year for Goss,” he stated. “He’s in a good place. We put him in a decent position coming into the final. We’re lacking one last guy for the leadout with Baden [Cooke] still sick and Julian [Dean] missing the race due to injury.
“The sprint at the end of Milan-San Remo and the other races upcoming are different than the sprints we have seen these last two days. People are arriving to the finish fairly fresh. They have been able to conserve energy. That’s not possible in the races upcoming that Matt will target.”
Today’s breakaway effort featured a long effort by the Colnago CSF Inox rider Filippo Savini of Colnago-CSF Inox. He attacked very soon after the start in Indicatore and was away for over 140 kilometres.
He built a lead of over elevent minutes, but was eventually caught thirty kilometres from the line in Terni. After that, the sprinters teams worked to ensure a big gallop, controlling attacks and keeping things together.
Boasson Hagen was the one who profited from that work, showing that Cavendish is not the only Sky Procycling rider who deserves the team’s backing in Milan Sanremo.
Tirreno-Adriatico (WorldTour)
Stage 3, March 9th: Indicatore to Terni, 178km
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) 178km in 4:45:31
2 Andre Greipel (Lotto - Belisol Team)
3 Peter Sagan (Liquigas - Cannondale)
4 Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
5 Manuel Belletti (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
6 Matthew Goss (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
7 Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
8 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Movistar Team)
9 Elia Favilli (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
10 Wout Poels (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 00:03
11 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team)
12 Luca Paolini (Katusha Team)
13 William Bonnet (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
14 Kristof Goddaert (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
15 Robert Hunter (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
16 Dmitriy Muravyev (Astana Pro Team)
17 Steve Houanard (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
18 Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
19 Peter Velits (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
20 Daniel Oss (Liquigas - Cannondale)
21 Michele Scarponi (Lampre - ISD)
22 Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
23 Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack - Nissan)
24 Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team)
25 Pavel Brutt (Katusha Team)
26 Jérome Pineau (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
27 Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team)
28 Roman Kreuziger (Astana Pro Team)
29 Nicki Sørensen (Team Saxo Bank)
30 Matti Breschel (Rabobank Cycling Team)
31 Chris Horner (RadioShack - Nissan)
32 Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre - ISD)
33 Stuart O' Grady (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
34 Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
35 Christophe Riblon (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
36 Dominique Rollin (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
37 Anthony Roux (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
38 Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
39 Fabian Wegmann (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
40 Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas - Cannondale)
41 Matteo Montaguti (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
42 Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone)
43 Marco Pinotti (BMC Racing Team)
44 George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team)
45 Thomas Löfkvist (Sky Procycling)
46 Manuele Boaro (Team Saxo Bank)
47 Massimo Codol (Acqua & Sapone)
48 Lars Boom (Rabobank Cycling Team)
49 Daniele Bennati (RadioShack - Nissan)
50 Matteo Tosatto (Team Saxo Bank)
51 Sacha Modolo (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
52 Frederik Willems (Lotto - Belisol Team)
53 Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
54 Gianluca Brambilla (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
55 Johan Vansummeren (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
56 Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank Cycling Team)
57 Adriano Malori (Lampre - ISD)
58 Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
59 Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Belisol Team)
60 Rafal Majka (Team Saxo Bank)
61 Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team)
62 Daniel Moreno Fernandéz (Katusha Team)
63 Vladimir Gusev (Katusha Team)
64 Bram Tankink (Rabobank Cycling Team)
65 Luca Ascani (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
66 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
67 Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank Cycling Team)
68 Enrico Gasparotto (Astana Pro Team)
69 Christopher Sutton (Sky Procycling)
70 Francesco Failli (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
71 Gregory Rast (RadioShack - Nissan)
72 Ian Stannard (Sky Procycling)
73 Jose Herrada Lopez (Movistar Team)
74 Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling)
75 Bruno Manuel Silva Pires (Team Saxo Bank)
76 Federico Canuti (Liquigas - Cannondale)
77 David Millar (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
78 Danilo Napolitano (Acqua & Sapone)
79 Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
80 Oscar Gomez Freire (Katusha Team)
81 Thibaut Pinot (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
82 Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack - Nissan)
83 Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling)
84 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Colombia - Coldeportes)
85 Arthur Vichot (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
86 Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling)
87 Mathew Hayman (Sky Procycling)
88 Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
89 Carlos Alberto Betancurt Gomez (Acqua & Sapone)
90 Mads Christensen (Team Saxo Bank)
91 Vladimir Miholjevic (Acqua & Sapone)
92 Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas - Cannondale)
93 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Movistar Team)
94 Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
95 Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
96 Gabriel Rasch (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
97 Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas - Cannondale)
98 Jon Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
99 Lloyd Mondory (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
100 Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana Pro Team)
101 Danilo Di Luca (Acqua & Sapone)
102 Jurgen Van De Walle (Lotto - Belisol Team)
103 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Katusha Team)
104 Johan Esteban Cháves Rubio (Colombia - Coldeportes)
105 Fabio Taborre (Acqua & Sapone)
106 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre - ISD)
107 Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank Cycling Team)
108 Gert Dockx (Lotto - Belisol Team)
109 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
110 Giovanni Visconti (Movistar Team)
111 Danilo Hondo (Lampre - ISD)
112 Juan José Oroz Ugalde (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
113 Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
114 Valerio Agnoli (Liquigas - Cannondale)
115 Davide Vigano (Lampre - ISD)
116 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
117 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar Team)
118 Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team)
119 Enrico Battaglin (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
120 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
121 Kristjan Koren (Liquigas - Cannondale)
122 Kevin Hulsmans (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
123 David Tanner (Team Saxo Bank)
124 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Movistar Team)
125 Luca Mazzanti (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
126 Sébastien Hinault (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
127 Benat Intxausti (Movistar Team)
128 Michael Schar (BMC Racing Team)
129 Tony Gallopin (RadioShack - Nissan)
130 Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
131 Paolo Tiralongo (Astana Pro Team)
132 Hayden Roulston (RadioShack - Nissan)
133 Branislau Samoilau (Movistar Team)
134 Marco Coledan (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
135 Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
136 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Katusha Team)
137 Angelo Pagani (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
138 Francesco Ginanni (Acqua & Sapone)
139 Mikel Landa Meana (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
140 Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
141 Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
142 Benoit Vaugrenard (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
143 Jens Mouris (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
144 Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team)
145 Paul Martens (Rabobank Cycling Team)
146 Arnaud Gerard (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
147 Tomas Vaitkus (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
148 Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Colombia - Coldeportes)
149 Diego Caccia (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
150 Sebastian Langeveld (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
151 Marcel Sieberg (Lotto - Belisol Team)
152 Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) 00:26
153 Simone Stortoni (Lampre - ISD) 00:28
154 Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack - Nissan)
155 Borut Bozic (Astana Pro Team) 00:31
156 Alessandro Spezialetti (Lampre - ISD) 00:44
157 Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 00:52
158 Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) 01:05
159 Simone Ponzi (Astana Pro Team) 01:07
160 Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago CSF Bardiani) 01:57
161 Filippo Savini (Colnago CSF Bardiani) 03:48
162 Svein Tuft (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
163 Baden Cooke (GreenEdge Cycling Team) 05:11
164 Jens Debusschere (Lotto - Belisol Team) 07:11
165 John Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Colombia - Coldeportes)
166 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Lotto - Belisol Team)
167 Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team)
168 Alex Rasmussen (Team Garmin - Barracuda) 11:33
169 Victor Hugo Pena (Colombia - Coldeportes)
170 Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia - Coldeportes)
171 Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Colombia - Coldeportes)
172 Wilson Alexander Marentes Torres (Colombia - Coldeportes)
173 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Team Saxo Bank)
174 Andrew Talansky (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
DNF Ramunas Navardauskas (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
DNS Michael Matthews (Rabobank Cycling Team)
General classification after stage 3:
1 Matthew Goss (GreenEdge Cycling Team) 11:36:44
2 Stuart O' Grady (GreenEdge Cycling Team) 00:03
3 Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
4 Sebastian Langeveld (GreenEdge Cycling Team)
5 Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin - Barracuda) 00:13
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling)
7 Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) 00:14
8 Chris Horner (RadioShack - Nissan) 00:20
9 Daniele Bennati (RadioShack - Nissan)
10 Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack - Nissan)
11 Johan Vansummeren (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
12 Tony Gallopin (RadioShack - Nissan)
13 Hayden Roulston (RadioShack - Nissan)
14 Thomas Löfkvist (Sky Procycling) 00:25
15 Ian Stannard (Sky Procycling) 00:26
16 Roman Kreuziger (Astana Pro Team) 00:33
17 Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana Pro Team)
18 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team)
19 Dmitriy Muravyev (Astana Pro Team)
20 Enrico Gasparotto (Astana Pro Team)
21 Paolo Tiralongo (Astana Pro Team)
22 Oscar Gomez Freire (Katusha Team) 00:37
23 Robert Hunter (Team Garmin - Barracuda) 00:38
24 Andre Greipel (Lotto - Belisol Team) 00:39
25 Mathew Hayman (Sky Procycling)
26 Manuele Boaro (Team Saxo Bank) 00:41
27 Matteo Tosatto (Team Saxo Bank)
28 Nicki Sørensen (Team Saxo Bank)
29 Rafal Majka (Team Saxo Bank)
30 Bruno Manuel Silva Pires (Team Saxo Bank)
31 Mads Christensen (Team Saxo Bank)
32 David Tanner (Team Saxo Bank)
33 Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) 00:42
34 Danilo Di Luca (Acqua & Sapone)
35 Massimo Codol (Acqua & Sapone)
36 Carlos Alberto Betancurt Gomez (Acqua & Sapone)
37 Vladimir Miholjevic (Acqua & Sapone)
38 Fabio Taborre (Acqua & Sapone)
39 Francesco Ginanni (Acqua & Sapone)
40 Manuel Belletti (Ag2R - La Mondiale) 00:43
41 Luca Paolini (Katusha Team)
42 Pavel Brutt (Katusha Team)
43 Vladimir Gusev (Katusha Team)
44 Daniel Moreno Fernandéz (Katusha Team)
45 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Katusha Team)
46 Kristof Goddaert (Ag2R - La Mondiale) 00:46
47 Steve Houanard (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
48 Matteo Montaguti (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
49 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
50 Christophe Riblon (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
51 Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack - Nissan)
52 Elia Favilli (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) 00:47
53 Frederik Willems (Lotto - Belisol Team) 00:48
54 Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Belisol Team)
55 Marcel Sieberg (Lotto - Belisol Team)
56 Jurgen Van De Walle (Lotto - Belisol Team)
57 Gert Dockx (Lotto - Belisol Team)
58 Adriano Malori (Lampre - ISD) 00:49
59 Lloyd Mondory (Ag2R - La Mondiale)
60 Michele Scarponi (Lampre - ISD)
61 Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre - ISD)
62 Danilo Hondo (Lampre - ISD)
63 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre - ISD)
64 Luca Ascani (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) 00:50
65 Francesco Failli (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
66 Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
67 Luca Mazzanti (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
68 Kevin Hulsmans (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia)
69 Peter Sagan (Liquigas - Cannondale) 00:51
70 Wout Poels (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
71 Jérome Pineau (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) 00:54
72 Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
73 Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
74 Peter Velits (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
75 Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
76 Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
77 Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
78 Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team)
79 Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
80 Daniel Oss (Liquigas - Cannondale) 00:58
81 Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas - Cannondale)
82 Kristjan Koren (Liquigas - Cannondale)
83 Valerio Agnoli (Liquigas - Cannondale)
84 Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas - Cannondale)
85 Matti Breschel (Rabobank Cycling Team) 01:00
86 Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank Cycling Team)
87 Lars Boom (Rabobank Cycling Team)
88 Bram Tankink (Rabobank Cycling Team)
89 Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank Cycling Team)
90 Paul Martens (Rabobank Cycling Team)
91 Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) 01:01
92 George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team)
93 Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team)
94 Marco Pinotti (BMC Racing Team)
95 Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team)
96 Borut Bozic (Astana Pro Team)
97 Davide Vigano (Lampre - ISD) 01:07
98 Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) 01:09
99 Sacha Modolo (Colnago CSF Bardiani) 01:12
100 Gianluca Brambilla (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
101 Enrico Battaglin (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
102 Angelo Pagani (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
103 Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago CSF Bardiani)
104 Simone Stortoni (Lampre - ISD) 01:14
105 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Movistar Team) 01:18
106 William Bonnet (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) 01:20
107 Arthur Vichot (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
108 Thibaut Pinot (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
109 Benoit Vaugrenard (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
110 Arnaud Gerard (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat)
111 Jose Herrada Lopez (Movistar Team) 01:21
112 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Movistar Team)
113 Giovanni Visconti (Movistar Team)
114 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Movistar Team)
115 Branislau Samoilau (Movistar Team)
116 Benat Intxausti (Movistar Team)
117 Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank Cycling Team) 01:22
118 Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 01:23
119 Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 01:28
120 Juan José Oroz Ugalde (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
121 Jon Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
122 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
123 Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
124 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
125 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
126 Danilo Napolitano (Acqua & Sapone) 01:32
127 Simone Ponzi (Astana Pro Team) 01:37
128 Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 01:43
129 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Colombia - Coldeportes) 01:48
130 Johan Esteban Cháves Rubio (Colombia - Coldeportes)
131 Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Colombia - Coldeportes)
132 David Millar (Team Garmin - Barracuda) 01:49
133 Sébastien Hinault (Ag2R - La Mondiale) 02:01
134 Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 02:06
135 Anthony Roux (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) 02:33
136 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Katusha Team)
137 Fabian Wegmann (Team Garmin - Barracuda) 02:46
138 Mikel Landa Meana (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 02:49
139 Alessandro Spezialetti (Lampre - ISD) 02:53
140 Gregory Rast (RadioShack - Nissan) 03:11
141 Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack - Nissan)
142 Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) 03:16
143 Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) 03:19
144 Michael Schar (BMC Racing Team) 03:35
145 Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team)
146 Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team)
147 Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) 03:40
148 Christopher Sutton (Sky Procycling) 04:00
149 Gabriel Rasch (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) 04:04
150 Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling) 04:11
151 Dominique Rollin (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) 04:14
152 Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) 04:18
153 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar Team) 04:34
154 Federico Canuti (Liquigas - Cannondale) 04:37
155 Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas - Cannondale)
156 Tomas Vaitkus (GreenEdge Cycling Team) 07:19
157 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Lotto - Belisol Team) 07:56
158 Marco Coledan (Colnago CSF Bardiani) 08:06
159 Jens Debusschere (Lotto - Belisol Team) 08:15
160 John Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Colombia - Coldeportes) 08:56
161 Jens Mouris (GreenEdge Cycling Team) 10:06
162 Alex Rasmussen (Team Garmin - Barracuda) 11:50
163 Andrew Talansky (Team Garmin - Barracuda)
164 Diego Caccia (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) 12:00
165 Baden Cooke (GreenEdge Cycling Team) 12:02
166 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Team Saxo Bank) 12:11
167 Wilson Alexander Marentes Torres (Colombia - Coldeportes) 13:18
168 Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Colombia - Coldeportes)
169 Victor Hugo Pena (Colombia - Coldeportes)
170 Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia - Coldeportes)
171 Filippo Savini (Colnago CSF Bardiani) 13:21
172 Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago CSF Bardiani) 14:19
173 Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) 14:37
174 Svein Tuft (GreenEdge Cycling Team) 15:04