AUSTRALIAN MATTHEW GOSS won an emotional stage three at the Giro d’Italia on Monday.

Goss (GreenEDGE) finished second on Sunday but went one better just 24 hours later, edging Juan Jose Heado (Saxo Bank) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) in an exciting sprint finish.

Stage two winner Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) and race leader Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) were both involved in an accident close to the finish line as Goss won the second Giro stage of his career.

“It’s great to win here in a pure bunch sprint,” Goss said.

“I’m very happy for the team. There were a lot corners in the finale, that always strings the bunch out but I had a great team.

“I had two guys who delivered me to the last 300 metres, but I think there was a bit of carnage behind.”

The day got off to a sad start as competitors observed a minute’s silence on the starting line in Horsens to remember Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt who lost his life on the same stage last year.

Weylandt’s family were present while race organiser Michele Acquarone delivered a speech that gave the riders no shortage of motivation ahead of a crucial day.

Once things got under way it was a group of six that gained the early gap with Mads Christensen (Saxo Bank), Miguel Minguez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) among the pack.

But the breakaway group never held an overly commanding lead and it was down to less than a minute with 36km of the stage remaining.

Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) charged forward shortly after but the peloton reduced the advantage to almost nothing with 11km to go.

GreenEDGE performed fantastically and took advantage of Team Sky dropping off ever so slightly, as Cavendish, renowned for his sprinting, found himself behind Goss.

His attempt to try and make up late ground was thwarted by Roberto Ferrari (Androni-Giocattoli) though, with the Italian moving from his line in the sprint finish, a move which saw Cavendish hit the pavement.

And Cavendish’s collapse caused a pile-up as Goss – flanked by teammates Fumiyukki Beppu, Tomas Vaitkus, Jens Keukeleire and Christian Meier – charged towards the finish line.

Despite his fall, Phinney remained in the race lead by nine seconds.

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) is the man hot on his heels while Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Barracuda), Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank) and Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda) are all within 20 seconds.

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