Mark Cavendish lost the pink jersey and leadership of the Giro d?Italia after being caught behind a crash just over 10 kilometres from the end of Monday?s third stage.
Alessandro Petacchi of LPR Brakes won for the second day in a row to take the pink jersey from the British rider.
The British Columbia-Highroad rider was in a small chase group with his team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen but after a fruitless chase he cracked as a result of the pursuit and sat up on a small hill inside the final three kilometres.
Up ahead LPR Brakes did not wait for anyone and had things under control before Marzio Bruseghin of Lampre tried to attack. This was his home stage and he got a huge cheer but he did not last for long. Then Giovanni Visconti of ISD had a go as he approached the final kilometre. He stayed in front until the final few hundred metres before the sprinters took over.
Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) surged first but Petacchi, in his purple points competition leader?s jersey, was the strongest in the uphill sprint, holding off Tyler Farrar of Garmin and Francesco Gavazzi of Lampre.
Cavendish finished in a chase group, 1-25 behind Petacchi. He was both angry and bitterly disappointed at the finish. He refused to speak and rode off to the team bus. He later said: " I've hurt my wrist but I think nothing is broken. I hope the team can reclaim the maglia rosa in the next days."
Petacchi claims he didn't know of Cavendish crash>>
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Unlucky break
Until those dramatic final ten kilometres, it was a Giro d?Italia stage in the old tradition, with the peloton taking it easy for much of the day, while five breakaway riders slogged away at the front.
Giuseppe Palumbo (Acqua & Sapone), Yurij Krivtsov (AG2R), Mauro Facci (Quick Step), Bjorn Schroder (Milram) and Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) attacked early on but were caught with about 25 kilometres to go as they were on the first of two big finishing loops around Valdobbiadene.
Liquigas set the pace on the little hills on the finishing circuit to keep things under control.
With just over 10 kilometres to go, there was an attack from Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) and Davide Malacarne (Quick Step), who were then joined by Andriy Grivko (ISD), followed by Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank). Levi Leipheimer (Astana) also attacked the peloton.
Just as all that was happening, a crash in the centre of the bunch brought half the peloton to a standstill. It was an innocuous crash on a straight but narrow section of road. However, it split the bunch to pieces.
Up ahead, a little group including Levi Leipheimer (Astana) found itself clear. Behind, the bunch was in bits. The notable riders to miss out on the front portion of the bunch were the pink jersey holder Cavendish and overall contender Denis Menchov of Rabobank.
Cavendish had Boasson Hagen with him in the small chasing group, but with four kilometres to go, they were still off the back. It was a tall order because not only would Cavendish have to regain contact with the bunch, he?d also have to make his way right to the front of the in time to contest the sprint. In the end, Cavendish sat up on the hill three kilometres from home and came in with the next big group.
Tomorrow?s stage features the first uphill finish of the race, as they head to San Martino di Castrozza in the Dolomites. It?s not a hard mountain stage, but the bunch will split up in the final 40 kilometres and anyone who is not going well could lose significant time on the final climb.
General classification after stage three 1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes in 8-50-06
2. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Slipstream at 8secs
3. Michael Rogers (Aus) Columbia-Highroad at 18secs
4. Thomas Lovkvist (Swe) Columbia-Highroad at 18secs
5. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 31secs
6. Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes at 40secs
7. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Astana at 44secs
8. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana at 44secs
9. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) ISD at 45secs
10. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre at 52secs
Other
24. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas at 1-11
31. Chris Froome (GB) Barloworld at 1-25
32. Mark Cavendish (GB) Columbia-Highroad at 1-29
50. Bradley Wiggins (GB) Garmin-Slipstream at 1-49
122. Ben Swift (GB) Katusha at 4-34
129. David Millar (GB) Garmin-Slipstream at 5-00
137. Charly Wegelius (GB) Silence-Lotto at 5-34
140. Daniel Lloyd (GB) Cervelo at 6-00
146. Ian Stannard (GB) ISD at 6-50
174. Jeremy Hunt (GB) Cervelo at 12-09
Christian Vande Velde crashed heavily and later ended up going to hospital, his 2009 Giro finished
After being caught up in a crash 10km from the line, Cavendish struggled to get back to the lead group
Alessandro Petacchi claims his second 2009 Giro win, and the pink jersey
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Find the pink jersey competition
Find the jerseys throughout the Giro and you would win a £400 Parker International voucher.
18 pink jerseys will be hidden around the Cycling Weekly and Parker International websites over the course of the three week race - all you have to do is decipher the clues at the end of the stage reports to find them.
Monday, May 11. Clue number three:
Find the jersey in the CW profile of a female rider who competes in BMX and on the track
Today's jersey is on www.cyclingweekly.com
Full details of CW's find the pink jersey competition>>
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Giro d'Italia 2009 links
Stage reports
Stage two: Petacchi denies Cavendish the stage win
Stage one: Cavendish in pink as Columbia prove their point to Garmin
Founded in 1891, Cycling Weekly and its team of expert journalists brings cyclists in-depth reviews, extensive coverage of both professional and domestic racing, as well as fitness advice and 'brew a cuppa and put your feet up' features. Cycling Weekly serves its audience across a range of platforms, from good old-fashioned print to online journalism, and video.
