2011 Giro de Sardegna with Assos. Stage 3

Stage 3 of this years Giro de Sardegna was a rolling 110+ km race. Like stage 2 it started at a full sprint for the first 20 or so km's. Having ridden a TT and a long 160km in the rain the day before the legs were complaining a bit as well. The really cool thing to note in today's stage was racing through the towns. We did this a bit the day before, but not like this. Close to 180 cyclists flying through multiple small towns with narrow streets and a lot of people out cheering was a first for me and super fun!

Some scenery from stage 3


Super hero Malcolm Elliot getting his pre-race rubdown...


About 30km into the stage we hit the first "roller". OK, if you consider 10km a "roller" that is. Got dropped immediately, but kept my own pace and soon got a second wind and started passing groups at a pretty quick pace. By the top was in the third group on the road and getting close to the second. But after a long downhill the gap was too big and had to settle where I was.


Catching stragglers on the road. This stage was super fun and after the "rollers" we had about 25km of flattish roads to the finish. Super fast and everyone knew how to ride so we had some good fun with some great pacelines going. In the end though, did a weak sprint and finished third in our group. Just something about doing a sprint when it's not for the win...