Alessandro Petacchi took the bunch sprint again and the leader’s maglia rosa jersey on the 198-kilometre stage from Grado to Valdobbiadene Monday. The LPR Brakes Italian out-sprinted USA’s Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Slipstream and Francesco Gavazzi.

A big crash split the peloton with about 10k to go. The crash was near the front of the peloton, catching many riders behind them and knocking them out of competition for the finish – including Mark Cavendish in the pink jersey.

The 2009 Giro’s 3rd day was animated by an escape of five, which got away after only nine kilometres. Giuseppe Palumbo (Acqua e Sapone), Yuriy Krivtsov (AG2R), Mauro Facci (Quick Step), Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) and Björn Schröder (Milram) quickly built up a lead of seven minutes. Their lead held for most of the day, but they the peloton caught them at kilometre 161.

Garmin-Slipstream recived a major blow when captain Christian Vande Velde crashed about three-quarters of the way through the stage. He tried to keep on going, but soon had to leave for hospital in an ambulance.

2009 Giro d’Italia Stage 3 Results:

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
3 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-NGC
4 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step
5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC
6 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Silence-Lotto

General classification after stage 3

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
3 Michael Rogers (Aus) Columbia-Highroad
4 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Columbia-Highroad
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
6 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini
7 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Astana
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana