Overview
- Stage 3 runs from Plovdiv to Sofia over 175 km with an early climb to Borovets Pass and long, flat finishing roads that favor a bunch sprint.
- Time bonuses could reshape the tight early standings, with 6, 4 and 2 seconds at the Red Bull KM sprint and 10, 6 and 4 seconds on the line.
- Guillermo Thomas Silva leads the general classification in the maglia rosa, the pink jersey, by four seconds in a field split by only small gaps.
- Adam Yates abandoned after a crash the previous day, leaving UAE Team Emirates XRG with five riders and less control in flat, fast finales.
- Paul Magnier wears the maglia ciclamino for points after winning the first sprint stage, as the race wraps its Bulgarian start before chartering back to Italy and a May 31 finish in Rome.