After a second place finish in stage 2, Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) broke the drought that has lasted since the Giro d'Italia when he won the bunch sprint in stage 3 of the Tour of Hainan. The Italian beat Jakub Mareczko (Southeast) and Eduard Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini) into the minor podium positions and moved into second in the overall standings, one second behind Andrea Palini (Skydive Dubai).

Like the previous stages, it was a completely flat affair that brought the riders over 130.7km from Wenchang to Haikou. Straight from the gun, an early breakaway was formed. A 4-man leading group was established in the front and it involved James Glasspool (Novo Nordisk), Krists Neilands (Rietumu Delfin), Ma Guangtong (Hengxiang) and Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine). Their advantage quickly increased to its maximum level of 2:40. Due to short distance, the peloton started chase early. The gap was being reduced systematically and the escape was caught with around 10 kilometers to go.

In the very finale, CCC Sprandi Polkowice took control at the head of the bunch but in the end it was Sacha Modolo who took the win, beating Jakub Mareczko and Eduard Grosu. With 10 bonus second, he moves into second in the overall standings, one second behind Andrea Palini, ahead of tomorrow's long 240km stage.