Giro d'Italia Women Stage 3 LIVE - Lorena Wiebes wins for SD Worx as Anna Henderson holds onto the maglia rosa

Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek) survived a late scare to keep hold of the maglia rosa at the end of a frantic third stage of this year’s Giro d'Italia Women, as Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) took the sprint spoils.

Disaster struck with 5km to go, as the grey skies finally unleashed a heavy rain shower. That made the roads completely treacherous, and as the peloton negotiated a roundabout with 2.5km to go, the inevitable crash happened.

To make things worse, it was a rider near the front who went down, delaying most of the peloton.

A handful missed the chaos, with Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) leading out Wiebes for the stage victory after a truncated sprint finish. 

As the crash happened within the final 3km, the GC times were unaffected, meaning Henderson keeps hold of the pink jersey heading into the mountainous Stage 4. 

The peloton had stayed together on the initial climb up to the Passo del Tonale, which is the highest point of the Giro.

But on the descent, Nora Jencusova (BePink-Imatra-Bongioanni) went clear, and built a lead of over a minute over the peloton. Petra Zsanko (Ceratizit Pro Cycling) worked hard to join her, but stayed 40’’ adrift. 

The only key thing to happen in the midpoint of the race was Marlen Reusser (Movistar) picking up two bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint to cut Henderson’s lead to just 13’’. 

Zsanko was eventually caught, leaving just Jencusova out front by herself. The Slovak star made it all the way to 23km to go before being swallowed up - then chaos ensued before Wiebes won the day.

"The novelty never wears off, I was super proud to wear it today and I’m really proud to wear it for another day. There was a lot of stress with about 25km to go, and then the rain came in and made the roundabouts super slippery and it was a waiting game of when the crash would come in. I thought I had saved it, but I didn’t. 

"We are sticking to our plan of being super aggressive [tomorrow], it is an uphill finish so I’ll be supporting my team mates."

Right, after an exciting third stage, another interesting route awaits the riders tomorrow.

It is a lumpy stage, not one for the sprinters certainly - so Wiebes will be relieved to have ticked off the win today.

An uphill finish too, so one for the climbers, and more than likely a change of GC leader too.

Wiebes survived the highest point of the race today, and made it to the line in one piece despite that late rain causing plenty of chaos. She has been onto the podium to spray some champagne as the stage winner, and she is followed by Henderson who remains in the pink jersey.

Henderson's lead has been cut by two seconds today, courtesy of Reusser picking up those bonus seconds earlier on in the intermediate sprint.

1. Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek) 5'41'10"

2. Marlen Reusser (Movistar) +0'13"

3. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE ADQ) +0'31"

4. Anna Van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) +0'35"

5. Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0'56"

6. Shirin Van Anrooij +ST

7. Katerine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility) +0'59"

8. Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) +1'03"

9. Juliette Labous (FDJ-SUEZ) +1'06"

10. Dilyxine Miermont +1'10"

"We were very lucky we were in front of the roundabout when the crash happened, there were still three of us," Wiebes said.

"Lotte [Kopecky] did amazing, I was a bit scared with the last corner, I felt my wheels slipping a bit but I managed to save it. I would have liked to go with the complete peloton to the finish, but that is part of racing."

1. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) 2:59.07

2. Josie Nelson (Picnic PostNL) ST

3. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) ST

4. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) ST

5. Babetta van der Wolf (EF Education-Oatly) ST

6. Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck) ST

7. Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx) ST

8. Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ) ST

9. Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) ST

10. Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) ST

We have not had confirmation that everyone is up from that crash, but we do hope everyone is okay.

Again, that late rain was the culprit, a rider getting on the slippery white line on the inside of a roundabout and losing her wheel, taking down many riders behind her.

That left a fragmented finish, with Wiebes taking the win in the end from Josie Nelson (Picnic PostNL).

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) takes the win, a reasonably uncontested sprint in the end with a very small bunch near the front after that late, late crash in the rain.

The rest are starting to cycle in, and as the crash was within the last 3km, the GC times should not be affected today despite Henderson being caught up behind that crash.

The finish is dry somehow. Kopecky is trying to lead Wiebes out, those two avoiding the crash. And those two start to gap the rest...

Henderson has been delayed by that crash. It happened at a roundabout, as someone looked like they slid onto a white line quite near the front.

As such, there are some breaks near the front, the big bunch sprint is gone, but there is a group of about six riders vying for the win.

Kopecky looks to be leading out Wiebes here. But there is a crash! Oh no, that looked inevitable in these conditions.

All the big names are in situ. Under 5km to go. A sprint finish beckons.

And the roads are now undeniably wet.

The GC riders are trying to get to the 3km to go marker, so that if they are disrupted by crashes, they'll not lose out timing-wise.

What did we say about rain? The clouds have burst, it is heavy and the road is getting slippery.

Watch out for the white lines, they will be the worst areas affected.

Ready for this one?

There are some rain spots on the camera, but the roads look dry here so unless there is a big cloud burst, this should be a dry run in to the finish.

We haven't mentioned Anna ven der Breggen (SD Worx) yet, she looks like she is getting into position to lead Wiebes out here.

Kopecky has moved up. She's made no secret of the fact she is riding this to get into form for the Tour de France Femmes, and looked a little off her best yesterday.

Longo Borghini has team mates for company near the front, all the big names are being protected.

Under 10km to go now, and there will be more road furniture to come which we will watch out for.

Up front with Visma are FDJ-Suez, as the peloton begins to string back out as the road narrows a little bit. Plenty of riders are looking over their shoulders, making sure team mates are in position.

Oh this should be an exciting finish.

There must be some nerves in the peloton, knowing what is coming...

This is pretty much flat all the way to the finish now.

Sprinters are still manoeuvring into position, and so are the GC riders - to make sure they avoid any late crashes.

The riders are spread wise across the road here, as they negotiate some more road furniture.

Mountains in the distance add atmosphere, as Visma lead the way towards the run in.

Right then. The peloton splits for a roundabout, coming back together - no real advantage gained by going either way.

It's still a grey day, but the bright colours of the peloton are brightening things up beautifully as the race heads towards Trento.

The speed is really picking up, as the teams try and organise themselves.

Alice Towers is near the front, and so is Cecilie Ludwig - both moving around for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto.