It was a fast-paced finale that saw many Team Katusha riders in front in stage 3 of Tirreno – Adriatico on Friday, working hard to put rider Alexey Tsatevich in a prime position for the finish. It was a great effort from the team riders and just lacked a little luck in the end.

"We tried in the stage today for Tsatevich. It was a good final for him with the last 800 m uphill. The team did a good job with Angel Vicioso, Aleksandr Porsev and then in the end Luca Paolini. With 500 m to go he was in third position but then in the last 200 m he lost position at the turn. It’s difficult after the turn to move up in position and there is no chance to fight for the stage. So, Alexey finished 12th. Tomorrow is a long stage and we go into the mountains. There are two hard climbs on the circuit. For the GC riders the race starts on the stages of Saturday and Sunday. We have Joaquim and Giampaolo and I hope they can be in the front," said Team Katusha director José Azevedo.

The good weather and dry roads made for fast racing on stage three from Cascina into Arezzo at 203 km. An original break of five was reduced to two riders before the duo conceded defeat with 18 km to go. With the sprint teams lined up in the front, Team Katusha was in the heart of the action, hoping to set up a launching point for Tsatevich. The curving road and frenetic pace pulled the peloton into a long, thin line of riders as the sprint opened up and BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet took both the stage win and the race lead with Friday’s victory. He leads by 2-seconds to Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), second on today’s stage.

Saturday brings 218 km from Indicatore (Arezzo) to Castelraimondo. The race profile features four rated climbs.