‘Respect to Honoré and Thomas’ says Tadej Pogačar after unexpected Giro d’Italia attack

Take one look at the results sheet from day three at the Giro d’Italia and you could be forgiven for thinking the stage to Fossano was a straightforward sprint affair, with Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step laying a marker over his rivals and the GC riders rolling across the line to little fanfare after ticking another boring day off their checklist.

Race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) came across the line in 46th place, shortly followed by second-placed Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in 49th. Their proximity, however, told a tale of a frantic final few kilometres which saw the pair follow the wheel of EF Education-EasyPost’s Mikkel Honoré and almost score a huge upset victory over the sprinters.

“It was a really good attack, I was not expecting it,” Pogačar said in his post-race press conference.

“It was not my attack, I did not attack, I just followed. I found myself in a leading group and then we continued.”

The Slovenian might have downplayed his role in the move after the fact, but Pogačar is never a man to pass up an opportunity and was latched onto Honoré’s back wheel within a moment as the EF Education-EasyPost rider attacked. With no sprinter or GC rider to look after, the Dane made his advance on the final uphill which fell within sight of the finish in the Piedmont town.

Pogačar was immediately in Honoré’s slipstream and, sensing danger, Thomas shot from the peloton to follow. Heading over the peak of the short climb as a trio, Honoré, Thomas and Pogačar soon relayed and developed a handy gap over the pack behind.

“At first I was not thinking that I would be there in the small breakaway,” admitted Pogačar. “Then I was thinking Mikkel would be the first one to stop when he saw me in the wheel, but then Thomas actually did the first pull. He pulled immediately when he came across. Respect to both of them. It was a good try.”

With the three riders out front moving through and off without a moment’s hesitation, the likes of Polti-Kometa, Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck rallied behind. Monday had promised the first chance for the sprinters at this year’s race and with the maglia rosa on the move, alongside the opportunistic Honoré and in-form Thomas, stage 3 threatened to end in tears for the fast men.

But as it turned out, Honoré could not last the distance with Thomas and Pogačar, and dropped back after a kilometre. Still, the first and second-placed riders on GC pressed on and only 1.7km remained to the line, though Pogačar was not so confident in their chances.

“I never believed that we could make it to the finish. Geraint tried to pull as well in the end, which surprised me, so respect, and in the end I tried, but 400m to the finish, it was still a long way to go, way too long.”

The front two carried only a few seconds’ worth of an advantage heading under the flamme rouge and with 500m to go, Thomas resisted the last opportunity to pull through, well aware that the game was up for him and Pogačar. Both riders were caught a couple of hundred metres later as the sprint launched into top gear, but the race leader was content with an exciting finish to what might otherwise have been a drab, wet stage.

“I had good legs and this kind of terrain is good, when it’s a little bit like a game, like back in the day with your friends when you attack each other like this on the flat and small climbs. It suits me quite good.”

For his part, Thomas shared a photo of him and Pogačar on X and Instagram, along with a wry wisecrack.

“Alright son, you’ve had your fun. Let’s just have a nice quiet day tomorrow? #kidsthesedays.”

In worrying news for the peloton, Pogačar replied on Instagram with a bold suggestion: "Tomorrow we go from the gun?"

Who knows what stage 4 might bring after three unpredictable stages in Piedmont, but for the time being, Pogačar’s advantage over Thomas in the maglia rosa has extended by a single second after Monday’s intermediate sprint. That gap now stands at 46 seconds as the Giro begins to travel south, the next summit finish on the horizon at Prati di Tivo on Saturday afternoon.

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, from the history of the race to this year's route and start list, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub.