Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) stormed into the race lead on the first summit finish of the Vuelta a España, crossing the line at the Arinsal ski station in Andorra one second ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates). Moments after his big victory, however, Evenepoel’s fortunes shifted somewhat as he crashed into one of the many people standing in a small group after the finish line.
The Belgian national road champ was left with a bloodied face, but seemed otherwise OK, at least in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Evenepoel’s stage win propelled him into the overall race lead, with Enric Mas (Movistar) now in second place, five seconds back, and Lenny Martínez (Groupama-FDJ) in third at 11 seconds back.
- After making it up and over the penultimate climb of the day, early breakaway survivor Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) still had a sizable gap out front with only a few kilometers to go on the final climb, but the steep gradients led to a rapid reduction in his advantage once the pace picked up in the GC group.
- UAE Team Emirates rode tempo to set up a short-lived attack by Juan Ayuso, and then Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) gave things a go, but UAE’s Marc Soler was quickly on his wheel. The action in the chasing group spelled the end for Kämna’s chances with some 2 km left to race, putting the stage into play for the red jersey hopefuls.
- Kuss led the GC group into the final half kilometer as riders prepared for a potential reduced sprint, and then Evenepoel surged off the front with 200 meters and one final corner to go. Vingegaard was the only rider who even came close to matching the Belgian, but there would be no catching Evenepoel, who celebrated a convincing win at the finish.
- Photographers and team staff were gathered in the downhill stretch of road that followed the finish line, and Evenepoel had little time to react as he careened into the group, colliding with a staffer. The incident left him with a bloodied face, but a few minutes later he appeared to be doing fine as he celebrated his victory with his team.
- Most of the major GC favorites finished within seconds of each other, with the big exception being Geraint Thomas of the Ineos Grenadiers. The former Tour de France champ arrived just behind his teammate Egan Bernal 47 seconds down, a major blow to any GC aspirations he may have had in this race.
Brief results
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Quotes of the day
Evenepoel did not mince words when expressing his frustration with the organization for the setup at the finish line, only two days after he had previously criticized the Vuelta for the dangerous conditions of the team time trial.
“Again, some things of safety,” he said after stage 3. “It was only 50 meters after the finish line, and it’s the third day in a row. It’s a bit breaking my balls now.”
He seemed to be in good humor, however, regarding his new hold on the race lead, perhaps a bit earlier than expected. When it was put to him in his post-stage interview that he was now in the red jersey only three stages into the race, he joked, “Unfortunately.”
He went on to say: “No, no, I’m going to enjoy it. It’s a very beautiful victory here in Andorra at high altitude.”
Up next
Stage 4 of the Vuelta will start in Andorra but head back into Catalonia in Spain for a finish along the Mediterranean coast at Tarragona (formerly a major Roman colony). The peloton will tackle a pair of third-category ascents in the last 65 km and the finish angles upward slightly, making this a bit tricky to predict, but it will probably be a good day for a sprinter who doesn’t mind a bit of climbing. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Alberto Dainese (DSM-Firmenich), and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) are riders to watch.
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