The story of the men's race on the third, 45-kilometre stage offers an interesting course of the race. At the start of the long singletrail climb, which the riders had ridden in the opposite direction the day before, you can still see 17 riders lined up one behind the other. By the time the highest point of the climb was reached, however, only five riders remained.
Henrique Avancini (BRA/Cannondale Factory Racing) leads them into the long descent to the Mantra tou Kampiou picnic area, followed by Stephane Tempier (FRA/BH-Sr Suntour-KMC), Florian Vogel (Focus XC) in the yellow jersey, Afxentia defending champion Fabian Giger (Colnago-Südtirol) and Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Mitas Trek). 45 seconds behind them are Maxime Marotte (FRA/BH-Sr Suntour-KMC) and Sebastian Carabin (BEL/Merida-Wallonie)

Avancini briefly has problems with his chain on the downhill, allowing Tempier to pass. The Frenchman chased down the single trail and by the time he reached the third feed zone at the picnic area, he was around 30 seconds ahead with ten kilometers to go. "They told me to go full gas. But one kilometer before the finish they reached me again. But no matter, that's good for me in the overall standings. Tomorrow the game is completely open," reports Tempier from his perspective.

Fabian Giger is able to jump away from the chasing group with an attack on a wave and catch up with Tempier. "I was surprised that the other three were back one kilometer before the finish. Unfortunately, I was one gear down in the sprint. But today I felt much better than yesterday. It was fun, I just like it," said Giger, who finished fifth.The yellow jersey is the master of the situation. "I didn't want to take any risks in the downhill," explains Florian Vogel. "We worked together in the waves." And with regard to his great form: "I got through the winter perfectly and my new team (Focus) also gave me a tailwind. I knew that I was in good shape. I hope I have good legs again tomorrow."

In the sprint of the five riders, it looked like Henrique Avancini was going to win, but Jan Skarnitzl shot past him. "I was the weakest of the five," Skarnitzl admits with a laugh, "I lost contact a few times, 10, 20 meters and had to fight my way back. In the sprint I was in last position and was able to use the slipstream. It was great to win the stage."

Avancini doesn't really seem disappointed and explains: "I'm pretty happy because the stage was very difficult for me. On the fast sections, I had to fight a lot to keep up, but in the end I didn't lose any time."

Ahead of the final stage, a cross-country race in Mantra tou Kampiou, five riders are within 45 seconds of each other in the overall classification. That promises a great finale. Maxime Marotte, who was able to reduce his deficit to eleven seconds and finish eighth on the day, has a 45-second gap, Giger 43, Avancini 17 and Tempier eleven on Vogel.

The winner of the second stage, Grant Ferguson (Betch.nl Superior-Brentjens), was unable to repeat his success and finished 13th, 3:33 minutes down.

Langvad with flat tire, Moschetti with crash
Nothing has been decided in the women's classification either. Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing) defended her overall lead over the 45 kilometers, but lost 45 seconds of her lead to Jolanda Neff (Stöckli Pro) and only took 37 seconds into the final day.

Annika Langvad is unlucky. She leads the race as she rides into the long downhill and also leaves her last companion Margot Moschetti (Betch.nl Superior Brentjens) behind there. However, she suffers a puncture on the last part of the singletrail and has to ride a long way to the final technical zone with this handicap.

Just as she passes the technical zone, Jolanda Neff reaches Margot Moschetti and Langvad jumps back on her bike. She makes the connection, but loses it again on a fast gravel descent. Moschetti also falls back. "I crashed," said the runner-up in the U23 World Championships. A few scratches on her thigh are visible signs.Annika Langvad passes Moschetti and finishes second behind Jolanda Neff. She repeats her victory from Lythrodontas 2014: "Cool. When we went into the singletrail climb, I immediately looked for my own pace and didn't even try to follow Annika and Margot. I didn't think I'd see them again, so I was amazed when we were suddenly together again. It was cool to win the stage," commented Neff, beaming with joy.

Annika Langvad was naturally a little unhappy about her puncture. "I had to ride a bit with it. I was able to catch up with Jolanda and Margot, but then she (Jolanda Neff) just rode away on the descent on the gravel road. We'll see what happens tomorrow. It will be exciting," said the Dane. She won the cross-country race in 2014.

Margot Moschetti lost 2:18 minutes due to her crash and is now 5:37 minutes behind Langvad in the overall standings. Nevertheless, the Frenchwoman is "happy to be at the front with the strong riders".

Kathrin Stirnemann (Haibike-Ötztal), who finished fourth and is also fourth in the overall standings (+15:09), is unlikely to have a chance of making the podium. "It was better today than yesterday. I tried to ride my rhythm on the climb. The last ten kilometers are my thing and I tried to make up time," explained the Swiss rider.Her team-mate Corina Gantebein was in fourth place until the end of the downhill, before Stirnemann caught up. "I had cramps at the end, so Kathrin was able to ride away," reports Gantenbein, who is nevertheless happy with her result on the third stage.

Pauline Ferrand Prevot (FRA/Rabo-Liv) and Annie Last (British national team) were unable to finish. Ferrand Prevot is said to have knee problems.

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