Elia Viviani showed just why he made the decision to leave Team Sky last year, getting his first Stage win in the bag for his new team, Quick-Step Floors - a sensational sprint finish from the Italian in Australian heat in excess of 45 Degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
Officials had made the decision to shorten the 146.5km-long stage, from Glenelg on the Adelaide beachfront to the Fleurieu Peninsula town of Victor Harbor, before the start with starting temperatures being in excess of 31 Degrees Celsius and then peaking at more than 45 Degrees Celsius during the Stage.
Mitchelton-Scott had worked young Australian Caleb Ewan into a promising position into the final sprint finish, but ex-Team Sky sprinter Elia Viviani capitalised on a moment's hesitation from Ewan - not wanting to go too early into the strong headwind - and impressively won Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under in front of Sunweb's Bauhaus, and Caleb Ewan.
The day started with yet another breakaway from Nicholas Dlamini and University of South Australia's Bowden, with Dlamini taking the KOM points for the third day in a row. Dlamini was absorbed by the peloton with 53km remaining, but Bowden impressively lasted until there was just 20km to go (with a little speculation whether he could go all the way by himself on such a hot day).
Caleb Ewan retains the leader's jersey with his 3rd place finish. Richie Porte is expected to show his dominance for BMC in the next two stages, so he will certainly be the man to watch out for from now!
Stage 3 Results:
1 Elia Viviani (ITA) | Quick-Step Floors | 3:04:40
2 Phil Bauhaus (GER) | Team Sunweb
3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) | Mitchelton-Scott
4 Simone Consonni (ITA) | UAE Team Emirates
5 Peter Sagan (SVK) | Bora-Hansgrohe
GC Standings after Stage 3:
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) | Mitchelton-Scott | 10:58:36
2 Elia Viviani (ITA) | Quick-Step Floors | +0:00:10
3 Daryl Impey (RSA) | Mitchelton-Scott | +0:00:14
4 Jay McCarthy (AUS) | Bora-Hansgrohe | +0:00:15
5 Peter Sagan (SVK) | Bora-Hansgrohe | +0:00:16
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