Giro d'Italia 2012: Stage 3 Preview - Horsens to Horsens 190 km

Residents of Horsens won’t have much excuse if they fail to catch the Giro’s visit today– it starts and finishes there, and passes through again before three laps of a closing circuit in the East Jutland town. En route, there’s a chance for riders to claim the first points in the mountains competition, although with the day’s categorised climb topping out at 159 metres, it’s unlikely to be one of the men who will figure in the Alps later in the race who will have the jersey tonight.

Again, there are some tricky bends to negotiate in the finale, but a long run to the line means the finish line will be in sight even before the peloton passes under the flamme rouge. Today’s stage, by the way, commemorates Wouter Weylandt, who died on Stage 3 of last year’s race, and whose sole stage win in the Giro came on Stage 3 of the 2010 edition.

GT: I think it will be a similar story to yesterday. The roads are quite big but there’s going to be a lot of nervous guys there wanting to be at the front, the GC guys aren’t going to want to lose time, the guys who maybe want to take the jersey are going to want to be around there and the big guys will want to make the most of the flat days. There will be a lot of stress and a lot of fighting for the front, I think. There’s likely to be a lot of crashes, I don’t think the street furniture is as bad as it was in Holland in 2010, but I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of tension in the peloton.

For more on this year's race read our full Giro d'Italia Preview.