Denmark's Mads Pedersen won a mass bunch sprint on Stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia 2025 at the coastal town of Vlore on Sunday on the final day of racing in Albania, which also featured a mountain goat running through the peloton.

This was a second stage win on the 2025 Giro following the Lidl-Trek rider's opening day win and left him nine seconds clear of Slovenian veteran Primoz Roglic in the overall standings.

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Despite a 10.7-kilometer climb with a 7% gradient that was 35 kilometers from the finish, an arrow-straight 1-kilometer home run on the Adriatic coast set up a very high-speed finish, where Pedersen went early and held off a late burst from Corbin Strong of IPT.

"That's exactly what we wanted today," said a clearly ecstatic Pedersen, who finished in 3 hours, 49 minutes, 47 seconds. "We have two victories already - and the pink jersey." 

Halfway through the race, a mountain goat hit straggling rider Dion Smith of Intermarche-Wanty in the hills outside Vlore.

Fortunately, neither rider nor goat were hurt, as a herd of goats and a large unaccompanied dog watched on, with Smith showing great reactions in staying upright as the goat ran across the road right into him.

Many of the pure sprinters were dropped 60 kilometers from the finish, while Saturday's time trial winner Josh Tarling led a 120-kilometer break Sunday, but he was caught and dropped by the peloton on the last climb.

Roglic remains the highest placed of the favorites for the overall title, with Team UAE rider Juan Ayuso 16 seconds behind him, as the 22-year-old Spaniard attempts to defend the title his team won with Tadej Pogacar in 2024.

Italian home hope Antonio Tiberi, Simon Yates of Visma, his twin brother Adam Yates of UAE and two former South American winners of the Giro, Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz and Colombian Egan Bernal, all are well-positioned at 25-50 seconds adrift.

Those kind of gaps can go up in smoke over the space of a kilometer in the high mountains during the final week.

After three days in Albania, the Giro heads back across the Adriatic to Italy, with Monday a rest day for the riders.

Tuesday's fourth stage is a flat run to Lecce in the heel of Italy, where the pure sprinters such as Olav Kooij, Sam Bennett, Kaden Groves or Paul Magnier should be in the final mix.

The rest of next week is hills galore as the riders crisscross Italy via Matera and Napoli and climbing as far as Siena by Stage 9.

The final week of the Giro will be decisive, with Stage 16 featuring five Alpine mountains and Stage 20 ending with a grueling climb up the Colle delle Finestre to the Sestriere ski resort -- the moment when the winner is likely to emerge.

Giro d’Italia Stage 3 Results – Top 25

1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) – 3:49:47 (B10)
2. Corbin Strong (Israel - Premier Tech) – 3:49:47 (B6)
3. Orluis Aular (Movistar Team) – 3:49:47 (B4)
4. Brandon Rivera (INEOS Grenadiers) – 3:49:47
5. Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) – 3:49:47
6. Stefano Oldani (Cofidis) – 3:49:47
7. Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) – 3:49:47
8. Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) – 3:49:47
9. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana Team) – 3:49:47
10. Davide De Pretto (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:49:47
11. Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:49:47
12. Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana Team) – 3:49:47
13. Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) – 3:49:47
14. Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:49:47
15. Martin Tjøtta (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) – 3:49:47
16. Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ) – 3:49:47 (B2)
17. Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:49:47
18. Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:49:47
19. Jonathan Lastra (Cofidis) – 3:49:47
20. Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 3:49:47
21. Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:49:47
22. Kévin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) – 3:49:47
23. Jai Hindley (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:49:47
24. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 3:49:47
25. Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) – 3:49:47

Giro d’Italia Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 3

1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) – 7:42:10
2. Primož Roglič (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 7:42:19
3. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) – 7:42:24
4. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 7:42:31
5. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 7:42:35
6. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 7:42:36
7. Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) – 7:42:43
8. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) – 7:42:44
9. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 7:42:46
10. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 7:42:50
11. Wilco Kelderman (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) – 7:42:51
12. Simon Yates (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) – 7:42:52
13. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates XRG) – 7:42:55
14. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 7:42:56
15. Jai Hindley (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 7:42:58
16. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) – 7:42:58
17. Davide Piganzoli (Team Polti VisitMalta) – 7:42:59
18. Orluis Aular (Movistar Team) – 7:42:59
19. Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 7:43:01
20. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) – 7:43:01
21. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) – 7:43:07
22. Romain Bardet (Team Picnic PostNL) – 7:43:10
23. Christopher Harper (Team Jayco AlUla) – 7:43:10
24. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) – 7:43:13
25. Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) – 7:43:14

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