Stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia 2025: altimetry, route, favorites and TV times

Tirana, May 10, 2025 – Primoz Roglic in pink jersey at Giro 2025. At the second stage, the time trial in Tirana, the Red Bull Bora captain took the first position in the general classification despite losing by one second to Joshua Tarling, but it was enough to overtake Mads Pedersen, seventh at twelve seconds. The Slovenian is now the leader with one second on the Dane and 5 on the Czech Vacek, but his direct opponent, namely Juan Ayuso, is close to 16 seconds, as is the Italian Antonio Tiberi, eighth in the standings at 25. In short, an initial screening, but not decisive and it will be necessary to wait until the return to Italy for the first stages on the Apennines where the uphill battle will become more intense. The Albanian triptych, however, will close on Sunday with the Valona-Valona and a second category climb that could cut out the sprinters.

Timeline

A fairly undulating stage, but with a final nosedive towards Valona. It starts with a continuous up and down after Valona, ​​passing through the intermediate sprint of Gjormi at kilometer 34, then you arrive at the first GPM of the day, which is the fourth category climb to Shakelles. The central phase is always undulating, always with continuous short climbs alternating with short descents. Another short climb to Qafa, not classified as a GPM, but the real difficulty of the day will be the second category Qafa Llogarase which measures 10 kilometers at 7.4% average and 12% maximum. The summit is located 39 kilometers from the finish line. 14 kilometers of descent follow then the last flat stretch towards Valona.

Favorites

It looks like a stage for long-distance breakaways, even if the last stretch could serve to sew up the group. The initial rolling part could start an attack and the second category climb could reinforce it or propitiate a new one to get rid of the sprinters. A stage that is yet to be deciphered. Let's quote Hermans, Bais, Poels, Marcellusi, Van Baarle, Frigo and Fuglsang as possible protagonists of a long-distance attack. In the event of a bunch sprint, the favorites would be Kaden Groves, Sat Bennett, Wout Van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Orluis Classroom and Olav kooij.

Times and where to see it on TV

The last stage on Albanian soil is scheduled for Sunday 11 May, starting at 13.15:17.02 and arriving between 17.26:16.17 and 16.38:1, with the climb up Qafa Llogarase between 210:12.30 and 58:14. Live coverage on Eurosport XNUMX, Sky channel XNUMX, with commentary by Gregorio-Magrini-Moser. Streaming on Discovery Plus and Dazn. Live free-to-air from XNUMX:XNUMX on Raisport Hd, digital channel XNUMX, then switching to Rai Due from XNUMX:XNUMX for the stage finale. Commentary by Pancani, Garzelli, Genovesi. Streaming on Raiplay.

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