Time bonus for Australian undoes some of the damage done in yesterday’s team time trial
Having kept himself hidden for almost the entire length of the 212km route of today’s third stage of the Giro d’Italia, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) jumped to the head of the group chasing stage winner Luca Paolini (Katusha) to take second place. With time bonuses on all road stages of the race, this meant that the Australian was awarded 12 seconds on the finish line, moving him up the general classification.
“A small time bonus may not make a difference at the end of the Giro but it doesn't hurt for sure," said the 2011 Tour de France winner. "Most of all, it's a little bit of encouragement for everyone on the team."
Evans and his BMC Racing Team lost 37 seconds to Bradley Wiggins’ Team Sky in yesterday’s team time trial, as well as 23 seconds to Vincenzo Nibali’s Astana and 12 to Ryder Hesjedal’s Garmin-Sharp. The 12-second bonus in Marina di Ascea goes some way to making up this time; his deficit to Wiggins is cut to 25 seconds, just eleven to Nibali and - because of Hesjedal picking up eight seconds for third place - Evans cuts his deficit to the defending champion to eight.
Much of Evans performance on the technical final descent - and that of teammate Ivan Santaromita - was down to the BMC Racing Team having reconnoitre the stage three finish in advance.
"We knew every corner of the final descent and spent 30 minutes studying it in the pre-race meeting, so it was perfect," explained assistant directeur sportif Fabio Baldato. "The guys did a great job, particularly Ivan, Steve Morabito and Danilo Wyss, who had a bit of a bad day yesterday."
By the time the chasing group was sprinting for second place behind Paolini it was reduced to just 16 riders. It may have been a little different, had it not been for a crash in the final kilometres, which saw Blanco Pro Cycling riders Steven Kruijswijk and Robert Gesink crash, along with Lampre-ISD leader Michele Scarponi.
Had the two Blanco riders managed to stay upright the group might well have chased down Paolini; Gesink managed to rejoin the group but, unfortunately for Kruijswijk and Scarponi, the incident happened just outside the final three kilometres and both lost time.
"I was just looking to avoid trouble like the problems Michele Scarponi had after the two Blanco riders crashed in front of him,” said Evans. “Like everything that counts for the race, we prepare for it as best as we can."