The Lotto Soudal sprinter has made up for his loss on stage two to return to his winning ways. On what was a more attacked stage than the expected, a complicated sprint took place from which Caleb Ewan was the fastest, taking his third stage win of the day.
Luca Rastelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux), Edoardo Zardini and Mattias Bais (Drone Hopper - Androni Giocattoli), Davide Bais and Mirco Maestri (EOLO-Kometa) marked the days breakaway, with Alpecin and BikeExchange taking on the chasing responsabilities in the peloton.
The group never had a healthy lead as the peloton seeked a bunch finish with no risks. In a small ascent inside the final 55 kilometers UAE Team Emirates have pushed the pace hard and effectively closed down the escapee group with relative ease. They were sure enough preparing Tadej Pogacar's raid at the uphill intermediate sprint with 28 kilometers to go where he took three extra seconds for the overall classification, but did not stop as teammates Marc Soler and also Julian Alaphilippe followed and kept the pace up, being joined by Tao Geoghegan Hart later making for a dangerous move.
The roads were mostly flat from there on, despite the group's best intentions they gave up with 11 kilometers to go as the peloton chased hard. From there on the sprinter teams prepared the finale, it was an absolutely chaotic final kilometer, with no team standing out and riders having to guide themselves at the end.
In the final straight Arnaud Démare was the first to launch the sprint and it seemed like he had the power in the cobbled streets of Terni, but in the final meters Caleb Ewan had the legs to go through and take the win, beating the Frenchman and Olav Kooij who finished second and third.
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