A series of short, punchy climbs animated the finale of the third stage of La Vuelta Femenina, and for the second time in the race, it was EF Education-Oatly who came out on top.
Cédrine Kerbaol attacked with just over 2 km to go and held off a reduced peloton to win the stage. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) sprinted to second, two seconds behind Kerbaol, and Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished third.
Despite being momentarily distanced on the final climbs coming into the line, race leader Franziska Koch of FDJ United-Suez finished with the main bunch in 16th. She retained her lead in the overall classification by two seconds over Kopecky in second and four seconds over Kerbaol, who moved into third overall.
Brief stage results
[race_result id=9058 stage_id=90150 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]
GC after stage 3
[race_result id=9058 stage_id=90150 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]
How it happened
- Soon after the official start was given, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (Lidl-Trek) and Sterre Vervloet (Lotto Intermarché) went on the attack. They broke free with 119 km to go in the 121 km stage, a very different start than the first two stages of the seven-day race.
- The duo out front was holding a steady gap, around two minutes, as the race got within 40 km of the finish. With 39 km to go and a 2:17 gap, the Australian ITT champ dropped Vervloet and went on the attack alone.
Speeeeeeed
- The peloton started to organize a more consistent chase with under 30 km to go. On the front, Visma-Lease a Bike and FDJ United-Suez were present. They brought Wilson-Haffenden's advantage down to 1:12 with 20 km remaining.
- Wilson-Haffenden was caught by the peloton with 15 km remaining, as they started to make their way over a series of small climbs that would interrupt the run to the finish. Almost immediately, the climbs started to diminish the peloton as the favorites put pressure on the bunch.
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