Sunday was the final Bulgarian stage of the 109th Giro d’Italia, the peloton sopping up the breakaway inside the final kilometer before Stage 1 victor Paul Magnier doubled up with a brace of wins. Stage 2 winner Thomas Guillermo Silva kept the pink jersey before the transfer to Italy. Nickolas Zukowsky was top Canadian in 34th.
Preliminaries
Thomas Guillermo Silva wore pink after becoming the first Uruguayan to win a Grand Tour stage. Florian Stork and Egan Bernal lurked four seconds behind. UAE-Emirates lost Jay Vine and Marc Soler on Saturday, and Adam Yates didn’t start Sunday.
The Course
Soon after the start in Plovdiv, the road rose almost imperceptibly, then gradually, then officially into Cat. 2 Borovets Pass. From Borovets’ crest, the road descended all the way to Sofia. The Red Bull Kilometre, offering time bonuses of six, four and two seconds, was 13 km from the line.
The man in the blue King of the Mountains jersey, Diego Pablo Sevilla of Polti VisitMalta, went out in the breakaway for the third consecutive stage, gunning for that wad of points atop Borovets.
When Sevilla snaffled up the maximum KOM points, the trio were 2:30 ahead of the peloton and 72 km remained. The fugitives clung on tenaciously in the headwind and were still ahead leading under the red kite. Finally the sprint trains absorbed them with 450 meters to go. Dylan Groenewegen, Magnier and Jonathan Milan went hard side by side, throwing their machines at the line, the man in the purple sprint jersey prevailing.
Monday is the rest and transfer day, the Giro reconvening “midfoot” of the “boot” on Tuesday.
2026 Giro d’Italia, Stage 3
1) Paul Magnier (France/Soudal-QuickStep) 4:09:42:25
2) Jonathan Milan (Italy/Lidl-Trek) s.t.
3) Dylan Groenewegen (The Netherlands/Unibet Rose Rockets) s.t.
34) Nickolas Zukowsky (Canada/Pinarello-Q36.5) s.t.
99) Derek Gee West (Canada/Lidl-Trek) +1:01
2026 Giro d’Italia GC
1) Thomas Guillermo Silva (Uruguay/XDS-Astana) 13:10:05
2) Florian Stork (Germany/Tudor) +0:04
3) Egan Bernal (Colombia/Netcompany-Ineos) s.t.
47) Derek Gee West (Canada/Lidl-Trek) +1:11
70) Nickolas Zukowsky (Canada/Pinarello-Q36.5) +2:15