Nine years later, Mark Cavendish takes his 16th Giro d’Italia stage victory

Nine years later, Mark Cavendish takes his 16th Giro d’Italia stage victory

Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) took stage 3 victory with an incredibly long sprint to claim his 16th win at the Giro d’Italia, which he’s racing for the first time since 2013.

The finale saw another masterclass performance from the unstoppable Mørkøv-Cavendish partnership, only this time, the Manx Missile had a lot more work to do than usual, hitting the front with 300 metres to go.

At the very start of the day, a three-man breakaway slipped away without causing the slightest stir in the peloton, and the first Grand Tour sprint stage of the year settled into a familiar (slow) rhythm.

With a bunch sprint all but inevitable, the peloton kept things under control for 170 leisurely kilometres through the Hungarian countryside, until the breakaway was finally caught and the sprint teams arranged themselves in colour order at the front.

The day’s single classified climb was positioned inside the last 15 km, which had the potential to add a little drama to the run-in. With no sprinter to look after, Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma) went after the lion’s share of mountain points, which drew Rick Zabel (Israel-Premier Tech) out to defend his tenancy in the maglia azzurra.

Now level on KOM points but second in the standings, Eenkhoorn pushed on down the fast descent, leading the race into the last 10 km with a 10-second buffer, but his fun was over with 6 km to go.

Alpecin-Fenix was very much in charge on the run-in, but it was the dangerous Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl pairing of Mørkøv and Cavendish who emerged victorious, the latter roaring to a patient stage victory at the end of an incredibly long sprint, a first Giro win for his team since 2018.

Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) got up for second with Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) taking third. The overall standings remain unchanged as the Giro d’Italia says goodbye to Hungary.

Giro d'Italia (2.UWT) Kaposvár → Balatonfüred

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