Pidcock no longer plays a role there after conceding just under seven minutes yesterday. He remains an enigma. After second place at the start, he spoke of feeling incredibly bad. Yesterday's stage seemed to confirm this. But now the 26-year-old celebrated his third win of the season on the 174 kilometres from Latsch to Arco.
"Mentally, this is very challenging," said Pidcock in his winner's interview. In my last race (Tour of Catalunya, which Pidcock had to abandon after a heavy crash) I was one of the strongest. Today I just made it over the last climb. Although I'm not in my best form, the team gave everything for me. In the final, I started the sprint a little too early, but it was still enough." And actually it wasn't even close.
Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) continues to lead the overall standings, with Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) in second. His team-mate Bernal is now third. He is within six seconds of Pellizzari, Arensman is four seconds behind.
Tour of the Alps 2026 - Results of the 3rd stage
Stage 3: Latsch/Laces - Arco
Tour of the Alps 2026: Stage 3, Latsch/Laces - Arco
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 04:23:24 |
| 2 | Team UKYO | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | INEOS Grenadiers | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | Bardiani CSF 7 Saber | +00:00:00 |
| 5 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | +00:00:00 |
| 6 | EF Education - EasyPost | +00:00:00 |
How the 3rd stage of the Tour of the Alps 2026 went
A massive crash immediately after the start of the race marred the day. More than 30 riders were involved. Because there were not enough ambulances available, the race was first neutralised and then interrupted for around 20 minutes. Eight riders then had to abandon the race immediately, including Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla) and Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe).
It wasn't until 30 kilometres into the race towards the highest difficulty of the day, the Hofmahdjoch (1st category), that the first leading group formed. Eight men, including Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), went on the attack there, but did not make it over the summit before the peloton. Shortly afterwards, Sam Oomen (Lidl - Trek) and Darren Rafferty (EF Eduction - EasyPost) gave it a go. The duo got a clear run and extended their lead to two minutes on the descent.
Runaway riders only caught shortly before the final
The race situation remained constant for a long time afterwards, when Christopher Jensen (Team Jayco AlUla) set off alone from the peloton in pursuit not far from the second mountain classification in Andalo. Around 30 kilometres later, he was brought back after an unsuccessful chase. Meanwhile, Red Bull kept the breakaway's lead at around two minutes.
With 23 kilometres to go, there were only 60 seconds left. After the bonus sprint, the leading duo had around 20 seconds left, but there were no more climbs. Four kilometres before the finish, the leading duo was finally caught. And so the sprint had to decide. This time, Dati Pidcok was unable to hold on, and the Brit won with aplomb.
