Favorites stage 3 Tour of Catalonia 2025 | Insane amount of (climbing) kilometers for a one-week race

218.6 (!) kilometers and 5093 (!) meters of climbing. As we can see from this profile, the organization of the Tour of Catalonia is not sparing the participants. We expect the best riders to come out on top! IDLProCycling.com shows you what to expect in Stage 3.

Course stage 3 Tour of Catalonia 2025

The first 180 kilometers of the stage are mainly uphill, with the Coll de la Creueta (20.3 km at 5.1%) as the final climb. Before that, the riders must climb the Coll d'Estenalles (13.3 km at 3.9%) and Coll de la Batallola (7.0 km at 3.4%). These are not extremely difficult climbs, but they will certainly take their toll on the riders' legs and lungs by the end of the day.

After the Creueta, we descend to the Alp, where the final climb to La Molina will begin. This climb is 12.2 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 4.4 percent, but these figures are misleading. The first 8.3 kilometers ascend at 6.5 percent, then level off somewhat until the finish.

Climbs
56.5 km: Coll d'Estenalles (13.3 km a 3.9%)
154.0 km: Coll de la Batallola (7.0 km a 3.4%)
183.5 km Coll de la Creueta (20.3 km a 5.1%)
218.6 km: La Molina (12.2 km a 4.4%)

Times
Start: 05:20 AM EST
Finish: 10:57 AM EST

Weather stage 3 Tour of Catalonia 2025

The riders—and, therefore, the organization—will have an easy day on Wednesday. Snow is always possible as the race climbs to almost 2000 meters. However, it will be dry on Wednesday, with temperatures around 7 degrees Celsius, so it looks like everything will be able to continue as planned.

Favorites stage 3 Tour of Catalonia 2025

This Tour of Catalonia has started with two absolute top favorites: Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). The Spaniard recently won Tirreno-Adriatico convincingly and hopes to continue in the same style in his home country. Adam Yates and Pavel Sivakov are supporting him. On the other hand, there is Roglic, who is not yet sure where he stands.

There are also established names in the autonomous Spanish region. Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) and Enric Mas (Movistar) have climbing abilities, but it may be difficult for them to make a difference without really steep gradients. This also applies to other pure climbers, such as Sepp Kuss, Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), Egan Bernal, Laurens De Plus (INEOS Grenadiers), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Landa's teammate Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step).

Young riders have the advantage of being generally a bit more explosive. Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious already showed that in Paris-Nice, but Lotto rider Lennert Van Eetvelt also possesses that quality. Other strong young riders who can surprise are Israel-Premier Tech rider Matthew Riccitello and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider Giulio Pellizzari.  

Favorites stage 3 Tour of Catalonia 2025, according to IDLProCycling.com

Top favorites: Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Outsiders: Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), Enric Mas (Movistar), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto)
Long shots: Adam Yates (UAE Emirates-XRG), Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), Egan Bernal, Laurens De Plus (INEOS Grenadiers), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step)

Read also

Course and results Tour of Catalonia 2025 | Vernon surprises competition on Tuesday, climbing on Wednesday!

Photo finish in Catalonia: Vernon beats Brennan at the finish, Visma | Lease a Bike rider remains leader

Lance Armstrong watched in amazement at Mathieu van der Poel: "Did you see his face at that moment?"

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