Giro d' Italia Stage 3 Standings-Petacchi Takes Grado to Valdobbiadene-Prosecco for Pink Jersey

The Giro d'Italia cyclist raced stage 3 today, after starting Saturday with the time trials on Venice's Lido.

Day 3 was another beautiful day in Italy's Veneto region. Today's Giro stage at 200 km had the cyclist traveling from the picturesque adriatic town Grado to Valdobbiadene, the home of sparkling white wine known as Prosecco, named after the prosecco grape from this region at the foothills of Italy's Alps. Although the cyclists make their way up some hills today's giro stage was mostly flat.

The green fields and hills that lined today's Giro d'Italia at the foot of the Alps are lush with vineyards where the famous sparkling wine grapes are grown from steep-hilled villages surrounding Conegliano and Valdobbiadene in Italy’s Veneto region. Today, about 60 percent of all prosecco — some eight million cases — comes from producers outside the traditional prosecco-growing region of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, a cluster of villages about a half-hour’s drive north of Venice. The newcomers are not held to the same strict production standards as the traditional producers, which are tightly governed under Italian wine laws. The towns were full of people and the race route lined with people who love the action. And with 35km left, action is exactly what today's Giro d'Italia Stage 3 offered.

The last 3 km to go was a race of races with Bruseghin going for it and the pack following. Bruseghin went to early - Visconti charged, building himself a 100m lead with 1km left. But his legs gave up with less than .2 km left to go when Petacchi came through with a time of 4:45:27.

Once again, stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia did not disappoint setting up a great race circuit. After the jump Giro d'Italia Stage 3 video >

The 162 km Stage 4 Giro d'Italia tomorrow, May 12, has the cyclist beginning from the beautiful canal-town of Padua (Padova) to San Martino di Castrozza in the mountains. We'll be watching the climbers to see who is saving their legs and to see who is peaking too early as the Giro d'Italia stage 4 heads toward the Italian Alps.





















For a little taste of Verona in the Veneto region click below:

For more Italy video of the region where the Giro d'Italia stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, and tomorrow's stage 4 click WebVisionItaly.com - Italy video of the Veneto region of Italy including Padua, Venice, Verona, and Vicenza.