GUALDO TADINO, Italy (Reuters) – Mathieu van der Poel won the third stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico week-long race with an impressive sprint after 219 kilometres between Monticiano to beat Belgian Wout van Aert in yet another episode of the two riders’ growing rivalry.
Italian Davide Ballerini took third place.
In the eight races they have started together, Van der Poel, Van Aert and world champion Julian Alaphilippe of France have not let anyone else take victory.
Overall, Van Aert leads Van der Poel by four seconds. However, the overall rankings are set to be re-shuffled as sprinters and one-day race specialists should make way for the climbers in Saturday’s fourth stage, a 148-km trek from Terni to Prati di Tivo.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
