Eritrea's Biniam Girmay won the third
stage of the Tour de France and the last to take place in Italy
Monday, from Piacenza to Turin through the heart of Fausto Coppi
country near Alessandria in Piedmont, and Tokyo Olympic champ
Richard Carapaz took the leader's yellow jersey from Slovenian
two-time winner, two-time runner-up and pre-race favourite Tadej
Pogacar of Slovenia.
Pogacar, who won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 and came second to
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard the last two years, is bidding to be
the first rider since the late Marco Pantani in 1998 to do the
Giro-Tour double.
This year's Tour started off in Florence on Saturday and arrived
in Rimini Sunday before starting out from Piacenza Monday and
running through the home region of Fausto Coppi, who became the
first man to do the Giro-Tour double in 1949, 75 years ago, and
repeated the feat in 1952.
Pogacar, who has been likened to ex 'cannibal' Eddie Merckx, was
expected to be first over the Cima Coppi highest point at Cote
de Tortone Monday but instead Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen crested
the race's highest Italian peak near the town where Coppi died
aged 40 in 1960.
The great cyclist's children Faustino and Marina were there,
thrilled by all the people out on the roads where their father's
legend started.
The Tour, which ends in Paris in three weeks time, now leaves
Italy on stage four Tuesday from Pinerolo to Valloire in the
French Alps.
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