Giro d’Italia Women stage 3 LIVE: The breakaway is caught as the race enters the hilly final 25km

Haugset is putting everything into this she’s got 5 seconds.

Liv-Alula Jayco are helping on the front too, but Haugset leads by 10 seconds as she flies under the 3km to go marker.

FDJ United-SUEZ lead the chase, but Haugset is in a great position and looking great.

And she’s caught, UNO-X Mobility take to the front. This is brilliantly chaotic.
Hey up, now it’s Rosita Reinhour of Visma-Lease a Bike trying her luck, though to no avail.

Aude Biannic is the Movistar rider with a small gap. No one can make their mind who is going to chase. It’s the smallest of gaps, but…

The leading group comprises about 35-40 riders and the pace eases, before Movistar attack. Building for a move form their GC leader Reusser?

Persico goes again, is caught by Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health) and once again we ease off.

One of the Aromitalia Vaiano riders has a go, and she’s caught too.

Something is brewing, Movistar putting in a very short-lived dig.

Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic-PostNL) attacks hard, her British compatriot, Lauren Dickson (FDJ) leads the chase. But it’s Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) who brings the Brit back.

And rest!
FDJ United-SUEZ hit the front and the pace eases slightly as even more riders get back on.

And now we have more than a small group, it’s now a peloton at the front of the race. Niedermaier seems to be one of them.

Into Gemona del Friuli now and Vollering ives it a go on one of the small climbs. The penultimate stage of the men’s race started here last week.

The moment we say that more riders get back on, the group up to about 15 women now.

Seven riders lead the race now, Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike) and the Lidl-Trek pair of Niamh Fisher-Black and Isabella Holmgren joining the original group.

The leading group is swelling now, though Van der Breggen’s team mate has crashed on the descent. We’ll wait to se how she is.

Van der Breggen leads over the top. It’s tight and technnical, with hairpin bends and two tunnels as we descend into Gemona. It’s tight and technical through the town too, with some cobbles and a small climb.

Volllering attacks now, we’re very close to the top though. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Van der Breggen go with her.

Anna van der Breggen takes over at the front, last year the SD Worx-Protime rider did this as a defensive tactic, it might not be that now.

Only eight or nine riders are at the front now, they include many of the main favourites for the GC. But remember, the top is over 21km from the finish line, plenty of time to get back on.

Demi Vollering’s FDJ United-SUEZ hit the front, Célia Gery upping the pace and creating a tiny group at the front of the race. Niedermaier is in the peloton but a long way from the front.

A problem for Antonia Niedermaier, how is off the back as the climb looms. She has two of her Canyon-Sram team mates to help her get back on, they’ll have the vehicles to help, but they’ll be behind the very stretched peloton.

The pressure to be in the right place in the peloton has upped the pace and they’re breathing down the necks of the breakaway. They were never going to make it.

Montenars is the first 3rd category climb of this Giro and it’s a brute, with an average gradient of 7.1%, the last 1500m of the 2.5km climb are over 10% with ramps up to 20%.
It tops out 21.3km from the line.
Can the sprinters hold on?

The breakaway are rebuilding their advantage again, it’s out to 40 seconds as they ride into the Tarcento.

In the town of Tarcento, the route goes back on itself, before a slight descent towards the bottom of the Montenars climb.

And once again the race eases, Tonetti, Jackson and Pavesi begin to build their lead back up and they ride across open fields.

Tonetti, Jackson and Pavesi are still working very hard to stay away, despite their lead being only 12 seconds.
The road winds a little through this section, but there’s litttle in way of hills or descents, maybe the bunch will cut the break a little slack.

Though the roads are winding uphill and through the forests, the peloton keep getting glimpses of the leaders just ahead.

This is a real cross-culture area, with the architecture showing the Austrian and Slovenian influence. Sometimes round here your mobile phone will switch from one country’s provider to another’s.

Tonetti, Jackson and Pavesi cross the final line with the bunch little more than 30 seconds down.
Those narrow roads will be forefront in their minds.

The three leaders are now on the circuit. Their lead keeps fluctuating between 45 seconds and one minute.

The climb comes at the firsts point of the loop, but it’s not straightforward or even flat anywhere, and there’ll be some narrow roads too, where positioning is vital.

We’re into the finish town of Buja now and about the join a loop of 44km. The riders will shortly have the chance to see the finish line.
Meanwhile Tonetti, Jackson and Pavesi lead the peloton by 55 seconds.

50km to go

We enter the final loop with 44km to go, crossing the line 600m later, but for now Tonetti, Jackson and Pavesi lead by 50 seconds.

Deotto, Veenhoven and Guarischi are caught while the remaining three breakaway riders remain up the road, leading by one minute.

Tonetti, Jackson and Pavesi lead the peloton by 45 seconds, while Deotto, Veenhoven and Guarischi are in the gap.

Cristina Tonetti (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), Alison Jackson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) and Marta Pavesi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) have chipped off the front of the breakaway just as the peloton ease up.

The pace on the climb and, of course the earlier crash, has caused splits in the peloton.

The steepest slopes are at the bottom, but it’s a pretty constant climb, 1km average gradient of 6.4%.

Over that little climb and now they’re onto the Moruzzo climb.
There’s been a crash in the peloton, but everyone is up and riding.

Canyon-Sram take over at the front of the race.

With the bunch on the flat and the break going uphill, the gap is dropping like a stone, it’s down to only 1.50.

The breakaway is approaching a short, introductory climb now, it has some gradients of 10%.

It’s certainly more relaxed in the bunch than previous days. Stage one the prize of the maglia rosa was so huge all the teams were there, and it was similar on Sunday, Balsamo having only inherited the race lead.
Today the hierarchy of the peloton is established and other teams can sit back and leave it all up to Lidl-Trek.

With the climbs coming the leaders’ advantage is beginning to shrink. The peloton are only 2.25 behind Tonetti, Jackson, Deotto, Veenhoven, Pavesi and Guarischi.

Overall leader Elisa Balsamo is one of the world’s best sprinters, but she can get over hills, don’t be surprised if she takes another win today.

Today is the kind of stage where anything can happen. Despite the climb we could get a bunch sprint, the breakaway could survive or even a solo winner. Most likely is a reduced bunch sprint.

Lidl-Trek are still leading the peloton

We’ve had some rain out there, but nothing currently too torrential.

Elena Cecchini is one of the strongest and smartest riders in the peloton, and not only is the SD Worx-Protime rider is retiring at the end of the season, today’s stage goes through her home roads.

Tonetti takes maximum points and bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.
Meanwhile, behind the six rider breakaway, Hashimi and Zsankó sat up and have been caught by the peloton, who remain 3.05 behind the leaders.

After allowing the breakaway a lead of more than six minutes during yesterday’s stage, it’s unlikely they’ll let them have so much today. Not only are there more riders up the road, two of them represent WorldTour teams, so possess more horsepower.

We’re approaching the day’s intermediate sprint, at Villa Manin di Passariano, with 105.2km to go. There are 12, 8, 6, 3, 1 points available there, as well as 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds.

The weather is looking less than appealing as the riders head north.

Tonetti, Jackson, Deotto, Veenhoven, Pavesi and Guarischi now have 2.40 on the peloton, while Hashimi has dropped Zsankó.

And those five have been joined by Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime), so a group of 6 are away.
Other teams may not like the fact Guarischi is in there, the presence of someone from a team with a GC contender might not be a good thing for them.

Still no news on the escapees.

Five riders have managed to claw their way clear, but their lead is negligible at the moment.

It’s a busy start with plenty of attacks springing off the front.

Plenty of people came out to the start in Bibione today to see the race leader, Elisa Balsamo and her Lidl-Trek team mates.

The start is on the coast again before we head north, as we did yesterday, this time to the edge of the Julian Prealps. We’ve got a 4th category climb before we pass through the finish with 43km in Buja, but the main climb of the day, Montenars, tops out with 21.3km to go, after which it’s downhill much of the way to the line.

We’re off and rolling, this time for almost 9km of neutral before we get going. It’s relatively cool at the start, around 24º and it’s cooler at the finish with a 30% chance of rain later, though the wind is nothing to speak of.

With just a few minutes until the neutralised start, sign on is well under way. Today could be a good one for World Champion, Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly).

For today’s stage we’ve moved further east for, another 156km starting on the coast at Bibione and heading north to Buja for a lumpy finish. We roll out at 13:30CET.

It was an emotional day for Elisa Balsamo yesterday, winning in Italy wearing the maglia rosa.

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the Giro d’Italia Women.