May 06, 2018 (Eilat, Israel) – Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors proved to be unstoppable again as he claimed the 229km Stage 3 from Be’er Sheva to Eilat while Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team retained the pink leader’s jersey.

Canadian and Israeli fans were stoke to see Guillaume Boivin (Israel Cycling Academy) in the early break again delivering gutsy riding once again in an attempt to capture the KOM jersey.

Three riders including Boivin, Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF) and Marco Frapporti (Androni-Sidermec) got away early and opened a six-minute advantage just ten kilometers into the stage.

Boivin fought for the intermediate sprints and won but the sole categorized climb went to Frapporti who attacked while Barbin sat on the Canadian’s wheel. “We knew the terrain from a previous training camp and there’s a great tailwind so we hoped the peloton might miscalculate… it was a good plan,” said Boivin. “But with only the three of us it was tough. For the KOM it wasn’t possible for me to  was little I could do.”

BMC kept the break in check and through the barren Negev desert the gap was soon down to around 30 seconds. But the break got a second wind and pushed the margin back up to over two minutes with 40km to go and it was full gas. When Barbin cracked it was only a matter of time as the leaders were swept up and the sprinters got to work.

“It felt good out there,” said Boivin. “We appreciate the fans and the support. The team did a great job overall and we’re doing as well as any of the teams here – and we’ll keep trying.”

His teammate Guy Sagiv echoed his perspective adding, “I hope we’ve changed the country. I believe things will not be the same after this. I will never forget the support. I admit I never imagined it. People calling my name. Asking for autographs. It’s insane. All these three days were insane.”

Czech Champion Zdenek Stybar and white jersey Max Schachmann put the hammer down with five kilometers to go, and their huge tempo strung out the bunch. Viviani kept his cool remaining in the top ten and despite being squeezed in by Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe), he found the space needed to get past the Irishman, punching the air as he outsprinted countryman Sacha Modolo (EF Education First) for his second consecutive win at the 2018 Giro.

“We stayed together in this crazy final and did a great job. The guys were incredible today and this victory is for them,” said the winner at the finish. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to have such a fantastic team around me.”

Dennis was well protected by his teammates going into the nervous finale and battled to stay safe as the sprint trains formed and he crossed the line towards the front of the bunch to secure the leader’s jersey for another day, the first time in his career that he has held a Grand Tour leader’s jersey for more than one stage.

“It was very stressful today but I’m glad it’s done. It was a hard day. The last 40 or 50km, when we were chasing the breakaway and especially the last 20km, we were sitting on 70km an hour so we couldn’t go any faster. It was super fast and we were lucky that it wasn’t a crosswind. Once again, the team did a great job and kept me up the front. Tomorrow, I will rest as much as possible and go for a ride. The plan for the Italian stages will be to hold the jersey for as long as possible and then the battle after that will be getting to Rome,” said Dennis.

Results here.