Results Giro d’Italia Women 2026 Stage 3 - Hat-trick for maglia rosa Elisa Balsamo as Lidl-Trek rider dominates sprint

After Elisa Balsamo’s opening double at the 2026 Giro d’Italia Donne, Monday’s stage 3 threatened to snatch the chance from the sprinters with Montenars (2.5 km at 7.1%) near the finish. But the peloton survived the attacks, and in the final sprint the Lidl-Trek star won again in the maglia rosa. Three out of three for her, emphatic.

Balsamo raised her arms again after 3:43:43 of racing, sealing a spectacular three-from-three start to this Giro. The Italian not only kept the leader’s maglia rosa, she also kept stacking UCI points and showed unanswerable superiority in this edition’s bunch finishes.

The Montenars climb significantly toughened the stage and triggered several moves among the favourites, with teams trying to shed the purest sprinters before the finale. However, the pace in the main group never fully split the peloton, and several fast finishers survived the ascent to contest the win.

In the final dash, Balsamo asserted herself once more, beating Lily Williams of Human Powered Health and Femke Gerritse, third for Team SD Worx-Protime. The trio clocked the same time in a very fast finish, perfectly marshalled by the sprinters’ teams.

UAE Team ADQ also impressed, placing Elisa Longo Borghini and Silvia Persico fourth and fifth respectively, consolidating their presence among the best on GC. They were followed by Pfeiffer Georgi, Millie Couzens and Marlen Reusser, eighth for the Movistar Team.

Célia Gery and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig completed the top 10 on another intense, nervy day, defined by tactical sparring before Montenars and the fight for position in the closing kilometres.

With three stages raced and three straight victories, Elisa Balsamo is delivering a simply sensational Giro start. The Italian controls both the bunch sprints and the general classification, and for now no rival seems able to challenge her dominance at the Giro d’Italia Donne.