Hannah Barnes wins stage three of women's Giro D'Italia

Great Britain's Hannah Barnes won stage three of the women's Giro d'Italia in San Vendemiano.

The 24-year-old, from Kettering, outsprinted Finland's Lotta Lepisto and Holland's Kirsten Wild to clinch her first UCI Women's World Tour victory and her first for team Canyon-SRAM.

Barnes was ruled out of competition for eight months after badly breaking her ankle in August 2015 at the USA Pro Challenge and Sunday's triumph is her first following her lengthy recovery.

Race leader Anna van der Breggen finished safely in the peloton to retain the maglia rosa and an 18-second advantage over fellow Dutch rider and stage two winner Annemiek van Vleuten.

Repeated early attacks came to nothing during the opening hour of the 102-kilometre stage and the peloton stayed together until the day's only intermediate sprint, in which Briton Nikki Brammeier took maximum points ahead of Boels-Dolmans team-mate Chantal Blaak.

Colombia's Ana Sanchez Sanabria broke clear to lead by 40 seconds immediately after the sprint, but returned to the peloton in the run-in to the climb at Muro Ca' del Poggio.

Barnes was among a group of eight riders, including Van der Breggen, Van Vleuten and defending champion Megan Guarnier, to split the peloton over the top of the climb.

Elena Cecchini attacked but was caught by the group and Barnes proved strongest in the sprint for the line.

The 10-stage Giro d'Italia for women, otherwise known as the Giro Rosa, ends on July 9.