It is his second stage win after he won the first leg from Osijek to Varaždin
The third stage of the Tour of Croatia from Makarska to Šibenik, ridden trough beautiful sites of Inland Dalmatia and breathtaking seaside sceneries on April 21, 2016, went to Giacomo Nizzolo. The Trek-Segafredo’s cyclist started the day second overall, having the same time as Cavendish (Dimension Data), but collected ten bonus seconds for his victory and now returns to the top of the general classification. Cavendish drops to second, 10 seconds back while Dupont is 16 seconds adrift in third.
It was a tough stage, with a 2800 meters climb, so, on the first hill, a group of eight cyclists broke away from the rest, and six of them were in the lead for the whole stage, with the group catching up with them in the last kilometre of the race. As the finish line drew near, the Italian team supported the winner, and it was a decider between three great sprinters.
After the race we talked with the overall leader, asking him if he is considering the overall win now, after winning two out of first three stages, and finishing second in the other. He said that he is not even close to considering it, as the first three stages were made for sprinters, and he has come to the Tour of Croatia to prepare for Giro d’ Italia, so he is not in the form to get the overall win.
When asked about tomorrow’s stage, with a hard climb to Učka he said; “I am not crazy about the climbs, so I am simply planning on surviving it.”
A special welcome in the finish line was staged for David Jabuka, Šibenik’s own, who was happy to get the ovations in his hometown. He promised to do his best to help his teammate Emanuel Kišlerovski get a good result in tomorrow’s stage which should be the one to suit the best Croatian cyclist.
The six-day race continues on Friday with a 122.1km fourth stage ending with a summit finish at Učka. Saturday’s fifth stage is a 40.3km team time trial while Sunday’s final stage into Zagreb should end in a sprint.
Tour of Croatia stage three result:
1 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, 4:35:42
2 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Verandas Willems, same time
3 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling, st
4 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, st
5 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
Tour of Croatia general classification:
1 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, 15:35:39
2 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, +10sec
3 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Verandas Willems, +16
4 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data, +20
5 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling, +22
