Magnus Sheffield flew into the GC lead after sprinting to second place on a rain-soaked third stage of Coppi e Bartali.
The American won the bunch sprint to secure second place and catapult himself to the top of the GC after Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) took a solo stage victory. It was also enough to see Sheffield secure the points and young rider's jersey.
Racing the 142.1km stage in tough conditions, a break of 12 was established early on, before Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step) and Vine attacked with 19km to go.
The Grenadiers worked hard to position Sheffield as he helped spearhead the chase group behind and keep the duo's lead in check before Vansevenant was caught.
Vine counter-attacked on the Diolaguardia climb to finish solo, as Sheffield won a reduced bunch sprint to take the overall lead.
Tomorrow will see Sheffield lead the Grenadiers over a 150.4km loop, starting and finishing in Brisighella.
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Magnus Sheffield:
“We wanted to go for the stage win, the guys rode really well on a really hard, demanding day.
“It was even colder than we expected but we managed well and it’s nice to be able to take the lead going into the next few days.
"I’m looking forward to wearing the leader’s jersey tomorrow and hopefully we can defend until the end.”
Over in Volta a Catalunya, Laurens De Plus and Egan Bernal finished in a chase group as Primoz Roglic (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) took the stage win.
The pair fought back after being dropped on the final climb to Montserrat Mil·lenar to limit their losses, with De Plus now 10th overall and Bernal 11th with three stages remaining.
Tomorrow will see the riders tackle a hilly 172km stage from Pauls to Amposta.
