The penultimate stage of the 2017 Sibiu Cycling Tour will take riders 211.5 kilometers from the title city of Sibiu, Romania to the mountain village of Paltinis, which sits at an altitude of 1440 meters above sea level.
The start to Stage 3 of the Sibiu Cycling Tour will be relatively flat, as the peloton will reach the first of three intermediate sprints 17 kilometers into the stage in the town of Orlat.
Not long after the riders pass through the intermediate sprint checkpoint at the 17 km mark, they will approach the ascent up to the commune of Jina, which sits at 980 meters above sea level. While the climb to Jina will be far from the day's steepest climb, as it averages a gradient of only 1.9%, it will be the stage's longest climb at 20 kilometers long and will take the riders up 370 meters from the start of the climb.
After riders reach Jina, they will be met with a steep descent that slowly levels off and will become relatively flat for the next 60 kilometers.
At the 86 kilometer mark, the field will reach the town of Sebes where the second intermediate sprint points will be up for grabs.
The second climb of the day will come as riders approach the village of Dumbrava. This ascent measures 3.3 kilometers in length and has an average gradient of 5.3%, which maxes out at 8.3%.
18 kilometers after riders pass through Dumbrava, they will reach the town of Martine, which is the location of the third and final intermediate sprint of the stage.
Almost immediately after exiting Martine, the field will face the stage's penultimate climb, in which they will climb up to Jina from the road they descended down 100 kilometers earlier in the race.
The second climb up to Jina will likely prove to be even more challenging than the first, as riders will cover 5.1 kilometers at an average gradient of 8.6% and will face their steepest section of the race at a point along the climb that has a 12.1% gradient.
After the second climb to Jina, riders will descend for approximately 44 kilometers before reaching their final, and most challenging, ascent of the day.
The final climb to the finish at the summit of Paltinis will be a mentally and physically testing ascent for the field on Stage 3. The climb measures almost 14.8 kilometers in length, and has an average gradient of 5.5%, with a maximum gradient of a brutal 11%. The final 15 kilometers to the summit of Paltinis will be a true separator of the field, and the general classification contenders will work not to fall back on the grueling ascent.
After an impressive performance for Egan Bernal (Androni Giacattoli-Sidermec) on Stage 2, in which he captured the stage victory 1:22 ahead of the nearest finisher and took the overall lead in the general classification standings, Bernal must once again bring his climbing legs to Stage 3. Bernal has shown his talents in the mountains, but Stage 3 will show whether Bernal is able to fully recover from his big effort.
Colin Stussi (Roth-Akros) is another rider who made a big move up the general classification standings after Stage 2. Stussi has been consistent through the first three stages, and is a true contender for the overall victory at this year's Sibiu Cycling Tour. The Swiss rider must attack on Stage 3 in the mountains if he hopes to capture the overall victory, as Stage 3 marks the penultimate stage and there will be significantly less chances on the final stage to make up a time gap of over 1 minute in the general classification. Stussi has already won a general classification title this year, at the International Tour of Rhodes, and has the ability to take another one at the Sibiu Cycling Tour if he can put together another solid day in the saddle on Stage 3.
UnitedHealthcare riders Jonathan Clarke and Janier Acevedo will be other riders to watch throughout Stage 3. Clarke and Acevedo currently sit in 3rd and 5th place in the general classification respectively, and put in solid efforts on Stage 2. Both are veteran riders, and will have the experience to work their way up the general classification in the final two stages. Acevedo is a more proven climber than Clarke, which may play to his strength on Stage 3, but Clarke has also put up strong general classification standings across multiple stage races and put in a solid showing on Stage 2.
Other riders to keep an eye on during Stage 3 are Simone Ponzi (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Ettore Carlini (d'Amico-Utensilnord), Cristian Raileanu (Team Differdange-Losch), and Ziga Groselj (Adria Mobil).
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