Read a full recap of the Tour of Italy's third stage, a 221km trek from Catania to Milazzo.

16:40 - Daniele Bennati goes early, Erik Zabel gets on his wheel but the veteran German does not have the final burst and the Liquigas rider holds on by a bike's length for the win.

2km - Lilian Jégou is the latest escapee but surely this will be a sprint.

6km - Nibali is caught and now Jurgen Van Den Broeck tries his luck.

9km - Vincenzo Nibali now launches a counter-attack.

10km - A dig from Antonio Colom Mas on a small ascent and he gets a gap on the peloton.

15km - McGee is on his way to hospital.

20km - Another nasty crash as Vasili Kiryienka runs wide and hits the curb. His bike bounces across the road and Bradley McGee is left with no chance and seems badly hurt - it looks to be a right collar bone injury and that is surely the end of his race.

25km - Gruppo Compatto!! All the riders together again and a sprint is on the cards.

30km - The lead of the escapees has plummeted to 30 seconds.

35km - This is the second finish in Milazzo in Giro history. The previous occasion was in 1961 when Nino Defilippis prevailed.

40km - The advatange is now 1:46 with the green shirts of Liquigas doing the hard work. Millar has just been back to the team car to have some work done after his prang.

50km - Barloworld have started doing some work on the front. Velasco (Euskaltel) and the High Road trio of Greipel, Siutsou and Possoni were also involved in the crash.

60km - Jurco (Milram) gained the intermediate sprint in Messina. The lead remains 2:50 and after four hours of racing, the average speed is 37,700 km/h.

65km - Mark Cavendish also went down in that pile-up and Ricco has lost 24 seconds on the main bunch which trail 2:50 on the escapees.

70km - A massive crash! Andrea Moletta (Gerolsteiner) goes down untouched - there are a few spots of rain but we can only assume there was some oil on the road - which leads to a massive concertina effect as the peloton brakes hard. David Millar and Riccardo Ricco hit the deck in the aftermath with yesterday's stage winner picking up a hand injury.

80km - The advantage of the escapees has dwindled on the flat coastal roads, it is down to 2:15.

90km - Buffaz (Cofidis) took the intermediate sprint at Rocca Lumera.

100km - The average speed of the race has increased: 39,500 km/h after three hours.

110km - It's not too hot today, around 19 degrees, as the leaders extend their lead to 3:50.

120km - As the riders enter the feed zone, the leading sextet have a three minute advantage. It's a long flat run along the coast now.

135km - The lead has extended to two minutes.

150km - We are well down on the slowest race schedule with the average speed of the race after two hours, a mere 32,500 km/h.

160km - He has been joined by Riccardo Chiarini (LPR Brakes), Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis), Kevin Seeldraeyers (Quickstep), Matej Jurco (Milram) and Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff). They have gained a minute on the peloton.

170km - Jérémy Roy (Française des Jeux) has initiated the first attack of the day.

175km - Emanuele Sella of Navigare was first over today's categorised climb. He was followed by Daniele Pietropolli (LPR Brakes) and Fortunato Baliani (CSF Group).

190km - After one hour of racing the average speed is 31 km/h. Quiet stuff so far.

200km - 195 runners started the stage after Slipstream's David Zabriskie and Igor Astarloa were forced to retire yesterday.

210km - The riders will ride around Mount Etna before the final flat 120 kilometres along the coast.

220km - Today sees a 221km trek from Catania to Milazzo. After an early third cat climb it's pretty flat and should mean a sprint finish.

10:50 - The final stage from Sicily is underway!

Eurosport