The first of three consecutive sprint stages, each day has a climb towards the finish to derail sprint trains.Oropa Express: there was a fight to get in the doomed breakaway with Ineos and UAE filtering the riders trying to go clear and then leading the chase. After Filippo Fiorelli did enough to defend his ciclamino points jersey. Andrea Piccolo took off solo but was caught at the foot of the Oropa climb.If Ineos pulled for most of the day, UAE had taken over late in the stage but Tadej Pogaar punctured, then crashed and chased to get back. It was all rather reminiscent of Pantani in 1999 with the team time trial chase before the solo effort up the climb.Sure enough Majka pulled over and Pogaar launched with 3.5km to go and Ben OConnor went with him. It wasnt that mad for the Australian as the slope would ease and if he could have followed hed have got a first class ticket to the finish. Only couldnt hold the wheel and alas the OConnors epitaph for the day was tried to follow Pogaar and hed lose a minute.Pogaar was clear and once again left everyone thumbing their thesaurus in search of new superlatives.Dani Martinez was the best of the rest, led in by work from a sparkling Florian Lipowitz with Geraint Thomas pacing himself in a way that OConnor had not. Only ten riders were within a minute of Pogaar.Is the Giro over? RAIs pundits were asking this aloud on TV. In one weekend the likes of Arensman, Dunbar, Bardet, Tiberi and Plapp have lost minutes. Each an individual setback, collectively a change in the balance of the race already.The Route: 166km across the plains. Theres not a lot to write home about here but lets note the intermediate sprint in Masio of all places. A bend in the road, a sprint point today but also where RCS boss Urbano Cairo, introduced on Stage 1, grew up. A coincidence? Probably not.The Finish: Fossano isnt really a hilltop town but the race crosses the Stura river and then starts climbing for 1.5km at around 5%. Its all on a wide road, this is no charge through the medieval ramparts. This can still cause problems for some sprinters. Once in town theres a 270 bend which leads to the final straight on a big wide road.The Contenders: there are so many sprinters its hard to pick between them but the climb before the finish can help with the triage. Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease A Bike) has the sprint and the athleticism; but he crashed yesterday. As we saw in Paris-Nice a few hills dont trouble him and his speed on the flat can rival anyone. Hes also got a very solid lead out train which should help but todays climb will cause problems for all, this is where the likes of Christophe Laporte comes in as normally hell survive the climb, indeed hes a sprint option of Kooij is done for.Still this is an open finish, run the stage again and again and there would be several winners. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceunink) has won uphill sprints. At his best Caleb Ewan (Jayco) can thrive in a finish like this. Biniam Girmay (Intermarch-Wanty) was beating Mathieu van der Poel at his own game two years ago. A year ago Ethan Vernon (IPT) was winning sprints in Romandie when many sprinters were dropped.On paper Fabio Jakobsen (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) could the fastest rider in a normal sprint but he was going backwards on the climbs of Turkey 10 days ago; team mate Tobias Lund Andresen was both quick and at ease on the climbs.Its a test for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) as they pack the speed but their build is a penalty for the climb. And there are many more sprinters in the race today.Kooij, Ewan, Groves, MilanVernon, Milan, Merlier, Lund, GirmayWeather: some sunshine, 20C.TV: KM0 is at 1.25pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST. Tune in for the finish to see trains jostle for position ahead of the climb into town.Postcard from AlbaPlaces like Monferrato and Asti are on the route today and on wine menus all year. The race also passes through Cinzano which shares its name with the vermouth drink but this brand was first produced by the Cinzano brothers of Turin. Theres a cycling connection of sorts as the brand features in the 1979 film Breaking Away as the sponsor of an Italian cycling team.Vermouth is produced with wine as the main ingredient and then blended with alcohol and various herbs and spices including wormwood, Wermut in German, from which the drink gets its name. Its been a way, whisper it, to get rid of unwanted wine, a technique used in many places.Now winegrowers in the region are uprooting vines to plant hazelnut groves. Its all because of demand from the confectioner Ferrero, whose HQ is in Alba on todays route. It makes Nutella and other delights where hazelnuts are the key ingredient. Demand for Nutella has gone global and while the company sources a lot of nuts from Turkey, the effect on the countryside today is notable, look for the rows of young trees. Ferrero used to be a big sponsor of Italian cycling, and the Giro, too.The post Giro Stage 3 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.