Results Tour of the Alps 2026 Stage 3 | Tom Pidcock back from injury with a bang! Brit wins after late catch as crash-hit stage explodes in final kilometres

Tom Pidcock timed his move to perfection on Stage 3 of the Tour of the Alps 2026, sprinting to victory after a dramatic late catch of the breakaway on a day that had already been defined by chaos and attrition from the very start.

The Brit delivered a sharp acceleration in the final metres to take the win ahead of Tommaso Dati and Egan Bernal, capping a stage that had seen the race neutralised early following a massive crash involving around 30 riders.

The stage was thrown into disarray almost immediately after the official start, with a major crash forcing organisers to temporarily halt proceedings. Several riders abandoned as a result, including Lorenzo Finn, a key loss for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe after the young Italian had begun the day sixth overall and second in the youth classification.

Once racing resumed, the peloton was quickly reduced on the opening climb of Hofmahdjoch / Passo Castrin, where Red Bull again imposed control and shut down a series of early attacks.

The day’s defining move came over the top of that opening climb, where Sam Oomen and Darren Rafferty went clear to form a strong two-man breakaway.

The pair built an advantage of close to two minutes and held firm through the middle part of the stage, working well together across the rolling terrain and picking up bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint in Tenno. Behind them, the peloton gradually increased the pressure, with Red Bull continuing to set tempo as the gap began to fall heading into the final 30 kilometres.

The race came back together inside the final kilometres, with the break finally swallowed up with just over 4km remaining after seeing their advantage eroded kilometre by kilometre.

From there, the focus shifted immediately to the general classification contenders. Egan Bernal launched an attack inside the final three kilometres, while Ben O'Connor also made a move as the reduced peloton stretched under pressure. Despite those accelerations, no decisive split was formed, leaving a select group to contest the stage win.

In the end, it was Pidcock who proved the fastest. The Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team leader launched his sprint at the perfect moment in the final few hundred metres, holding off Dati to take a notable victory after his recent crash at the Volta a Catalunya. Bernal rounded out the podium, while Aleksandr Vlasov finished fifth on a day where the general classification remained tightly packed.

After the opening sprint finish on Stage 1 and Giulio Pellizzari’s summit victory on Stage 2, Stage 3 once again underlined the unpredictable nature of this year’s Tour of the Alps.

The early crash, the strength of the breakaway and the late GC moves combined to produce another aggressive and open stage, with the overall standings still finely balanced heading into the final two days.