Stage 3: Lucena to Teruel (130.2 km)
When: Tuesday, April 30
Where to watch: 🇬🇧🇪🇺 Discovery +/Eurosport, 🇺🇸 Peacock, 🇨🇦 FloBikes, 🇦🇺 SBS
When to watch: 🇬🇧 14:30 BST, 🇪🇺 15:30 CEST, 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 9:30 EDT, 🇦🇺 23:30 AEST
Stage type: Hilly
What to expect: Opportunistic riders who came to the race with some extra guts to take the stage.
Stage summary:
The third stage from Lucena to Teruel has only one categorized climb, a Category 3 that starts 63 km into the stage, but in total boasts over 1,200 m of altitude gain over the 130 km. Almost from the starting line the road pitches up; after one fast descent early in the stage (about 19 km) the rest of the stage is a constant incline. After the categorized climb there is no descent. Instead, the race continues on a plateau that will make chasing challenging.
This stage is bookended by sprinter-friendly stages (possibly), which will make the sprint teams less eager to chase down riders who slip away. Plus, the amount of climbing early in the stage lends itself towards an early breakaway that could get a good amount of time, leaving the peloton behind to chase. With Charlotte Kool in the peloton, DSM Firmenich-PostNL will have no problem taking that on, but it will depend on who is in said group.
With the uncategorized climbing later in the stage as well, an “opportunistic” rider could be someone like Visma-Lease a Bike’s Riejanne Markus: someone who has GC hopes but will struggle on the climbs to come, someone who if they can slip up the road will be able to hold off a chase. It could also be a member of the VolkerWessels team, who have been actively sending riders up the road in every race they enter this year. The win could come from out of nowhere, a rider we wouldn’t think to mention. This stage is a bit of a tossup. And with the crashes at the tailend of stage 2, there will be a lot of sore bodies in the peloton.
As far as the general classification, the stage will not cause massive shifts for those who are targeting the later climbing-heavy stages, but minor placings might still see some movement. With so many riders sitting within seconds of the red jersey, we could definitely see it change hands. SD Worx-Protime don’t necessarily want to defend Blanka Vas’s lead at this stage when they will be fighting for Demi Vollering in the days to come. Vas, however, will not find the profile challenging, and if it’s a reduced bunch that comes to the line the Hungarian champion might extend her overall lead by winning the stage.
My pick: Vas. Her sprint on Monday proved yet again how powerful she is in a fast finish, and if the peloton is reduced again, if Marianne Vos isn’t there, Vas is one of the fastest women in any group.
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