Giro Donne Stage 3 Live - Van Vlueten wins as GC blown apart

Wow. What a stage of racing that was. Garcia went with 600m to go knowing she wouldn't be able to go with Van Vlueten in a sprint. Van Vlueten follows the Spanish champ and explodes past her to win by ten or so metres. Cavalli rolls through 40 seconds after the leading duo. Now lets see the gap to the chasers.

They reach the Flamme Rouge togther. Garcia goes very long.

The front two have stopped attacking and are now working together in a technical run in to the finish. I fancy Van Vlueten in a sprint finish.

Cavalli is now nine seconds behind Van Vlueten and Cavalli. Van Vlueten is looking much more comfortable on this descent with Garcia following her wheel and they now have a lead of over four minutes to the chasing group. The general classification has been blown apart here.

Cavalli has started to ride at her own tempo and is slowly closing the gap to the leaders. We have 0.6km to go until a downhill ride back into Cesena. Garcia is looking the stronger rider here and she will fancy her chances on the descent.

Here we go! The three at the front hit the final uncategorized climb and its Van Vlueten that goes first. Garcia and Cavalli stay with the Movistar rider but Van Vlueten goes again! This time Cavalli is dropped. Garcia and Van Vleuten have opened up a lead of about 100 metres. This is superb racing.

The chasing group have hit the descent of the final categorized climb. They're currently nearly three minutes behind the leading trio and its looks increasingly likely that it will be those three at the front that will battle it out for the win. The chasing pack includes Team DSM's Évita Muzic and Cecille Ludwig who understandingly are sitting at the back not contributing to the effort. Their chance of a stage win now lies in the hands of Cavalli.

Mavi Garcia takes the maximum six Queen of the Mountain points with Cavalli and Van Vleuten taking five and four respectively. They're on the descent now with Van Vlueten once again struggling to keep up with her group. However, she will know if they reach the foot of the final climb together - she will be favourite for the stage.

The front three are going really well. They now have an advantage of just over two minutes to the chasers and now a lead of three and a half minutes to the 'Gruppo'. We still have 25km to go but they're looking good. Can they hold on? They've just reached the final categorized climb of the day which has an average gradient of 6.8% for 1.9km.

The front three have hit a small descent. Cavalli and Garcia look a lot more comfortable then Van Vlueten who is taking it easy around the corners.

Cavalli is with Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar) and Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) in a strong front three at the front of the race. They're working well together and have a lead of one minute 20 over a group of chasers. Van Vlueten will know she is the only out of the leading trio that doesn't have a team mate in the chasing pack. We're set up for a thrilling conclusion here.

As we get live pictures we have a breakaway including home favourite Marta Cavalli (FDJ) two and half minutes ahead of the peloton and the maglia rosa. You could have been forgiven for thinking today was going to a be quiet day for GC action but that's not the case with 40km to go.

Here's today's profile. The first properly hilly stage of this year's race. We have three categorised climbs and one uncategorized climb in the final 13km which should provide a chance for a breakaway group to battle it out or for a GC rider looking to get an early advantage.

1. Elisa Balsamo (Trek Segafredo) 5:33:12s

2. Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) +0:06s

3. Georgia Baker (Team BikeExchange - Jayco) +0:12s

4. Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchnage - Jayco) +0:14s

5. Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) +0:14s

6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek Segafredo) +0:17s

7. Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) +0:18s

8. Charlotte Kool (Team DSM) +0:19s

9. Emma Cecillie Bjerg (Movistar) +0:20s

10. Lucinda Brand (Trek Segafredo) +0:24s

Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) went into the stage wearing the maglia rosa after pipping Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) on the line in Stage 2. Vos, however, would have her revenge on stage three as she started her sprint early, forcing Balsamo and Charlotte Kool (Team DSM) to follow. Neither could keep up with Vos as she claimed her 31st Giro Donne stage win. Balsamo came home in third to pick up valuable bonus seconds to stay in the pink jersey with Vos six second back on the general classification.

Welcome back cycling fans. We're here and ready for the fourth stage of the 2022 Giro Donne and it looks like we should have some great action on our hands today. After the Stage 1's mini time-trial and Stage 2 and 3’s sprint finishes we have moved over to the Italian mainland for a 120.9km route starting and finishing in Cesena.