🚴🏻🇪🇸 | Alleen de eerste vijf krijgen punten bij de tussensprint, maar weet Kaden Groves dat wel? Wout van Aert wordt vijfde en pakt daarmee tien punten, Groves heeft niks. #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max
Third time's the charm! Van Aert finally wins a stage in the Vuelta and strengthens his grip on the red jersey
CyclingMonday, 19 August 2024 at 18:07
The third stage in the Vuelta a España was won by Wout van Aert. The Belgian of Visma | Lease a Bike was the fastest and smartest in the streets of Castelo Branco in the bunch sprint. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was second, Jon Aberasturi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) third.
The day after the rather dull stage towards Ourem, which was eventually won by Kaden Groves, there was another 'Spanish flat' stage on the menu. This might be the last real possibility for a sprint finish, given the very tough course of the Spanish stage race. Between Lousa and Castelo Branco there were 191 mainly flat kilometers to overcome, although there were two small hills in the course. The finishing strip was again uphill, albeit less difficult than yesterday's finish.
Four Spaniards take the lead, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Visma | Lease a Bike pursue
First up would be the Alto de Teixeira, a second-category col: 17.5 kilometers of climbing at an average of 3.2 percent. It was not going to frighten most sprinters. The Alto de Alpedrinha (6.4 kilometers at 3.4 percent), with summit forty kilometers from the finish, probably wouldn't either. But first there was - how could it be otherwise - a Spanish-tinged breakaway. Two gentlemen from Euskaltel-Euskadi - Luis Angel Maté and Xabier Isasa - and two gentlemen from Equipo Kern Pharma - Ibon Ruiz and Unai Iribar - made up the leading quartet.
What followed was yet another walking stage. The average speed at the beginning was only 38 kilometers per hour for a long time, just to give an indication of the pace. In the battle for the mountain jersey, things could still get exciting. Maté had already collected some mountain points on Sunday and could thus have a shot at the blue and white jersey;
The lead of the leading group ran to a maximum of five minutes, with Alpecin-Deceuninck (Groves) and Visma | Lease a Bike (Van Aert) behind them leading the peloton and doing most of the chasing. Maté, now already 40 years old, indeed took the full prize on the Alto de Teixeira (5 points), thus - he had already taken two points on Sunday - doing good business.
Van Aert 'surprises' Groves at intermediate sprint, bunch sprint beckons
Behind the leading group, Van Aert sprinted to the final points in his red jersey. Indeed, at an intermediate sprint, only the first five riders receive points, but Groves seemed not quite to know that! Thus, Van Aert virtually seesawed over his Australian opponent. After the intermediate sprint, the four escapees went up the Alto de Alpedrinha. It was not a difficult slope, and surprise surprise: Maté came up first. He thus found himself more firmly in the polka dot jersey.
Read more below the tweet!
In the descent of the final categorized climb, Isasa rode away from his fellow breakaway riders and tried his luck alone. A day's victory was too high, but at least he did his stinkin' best to win the battle. The other three called it quits and so we were left with a single leader. Visma | Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck continued to control and quickly reduced the gap. The last Spaniard was caught with twenty kilometers to go, so nothing seemed to stand in the way of a bunch sprint.
There were a number of traffic circles in the finale, which made the racing quite nervous. Fortunately there were no crashes and everyone stayed on their feet. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL kept their man for the day Pavel Bittner well in front, while Van Aert was also kept safe by his team. With less than two kilometers, Victor Campenaerts suddenly chose the race route. The Belgian unfortunately did not manage to stay ahead but made sure Groves' men had a lot of work to do. Van Aert took advantage of Groves' leadout, cleverly closed in on the Australian and held off the advancing green jersey and finally managed to win in the red jersey.
Results stage 3 Vuelta a España 2024
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Follow the third stage of the Vuelta a España LIVE here
Does the liveblog not load? Just press F5 or refresh your mobile page or the app. Getting an error message on the website? Please clear your cookies and/or cache for the best experience!
Il Lombardia 2024
The Pogacar effect: How Tadej has shaped the career of Matthews in a crucial way
Can Decathlon AG2R's big budget strike back against the 'Big Four' this spring?
Victor Campenaerts already knows what his first race for Visma | Lease a Bike will be
Marie Schreiber's winning start explained: From "full throttle from the start" to "staying out of trouble"
Rain and women's race surprise Ronhaar in Hulst: "That might have cost me second place in the end"
Latest Cycling News
The Pogacar effect: How Tadej has shaped the career of Matthews in a crucial way
Can Decathlon AG2R's big budget strike back against the 'Big Four' this spring?
Victor Campenaerts already knows what his first race for Visma | Lease a Bike will be
Marie Schreiber's winning start explained: From "full throttle from the start" to "staying out of trouble"
Rain and women's race surprise Ronhaar in Hulst: "That might have cost me second place in the end"
Popular Cycling News
Pogacar intimidates competition just before Christmas dinner with the most prestigious KOM in the training area
Cycling transfers WorldTour 2025 | Uno-X unwraps Christmas gift from Jayco AlUla: Grøndahl Jansen makes the move
Meanwhile in the peloton | Good news for Lars van den Berg: "But the road to the top is still long"
Cycling kits 2025: Movistar and Jayco AlUla embrace bold new designs, Bardiani revamps with focus on detail
Lance Armstrong refused to speak with Tom Boonen for years: "And I was only 20 years old, you know..."
Latest Comments
- Well explained, thanks for the clarity! Daniel DantasDanieldantas20-12-2024
- This is the kind of 'news' that belongs in a cheap tabloid. No matter how boring the offseason gets, nobody wants to read this.
santiagobenites19-12-2024 - I wish we could have seen him try. He'd absolutely get dropped before Pogi overtakes his domestiquesVeganpotter10-12-2024
- Talk is cheap! Next year barring crashes with a healthy team... all well be on track! Some need to talk to make a headline!mootman27-11-2024
- I do not see this event listed on HBO Max Sports Online? Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
MrYuck23-11-2024 - It seemed that he was focusing forward at the time of the crash, after seeing a quick video snippet. But one thing I think he should focus on more intently is breaking a bad habit he has, right now. And that is his constant looking over his shoulders. He does that so much, that I am very sure it is not good for him. Simply watch videos of the greats of CX and you will see very little of that constant looking over their shoulders. That is a behavior that betrays a bit of insecurity on his part. He shouldn't be so concerned, incessantly, about what is over his shoulder. He needn't worry they didn't all disappear. He neds to keep his focus more ahead of himself, and he needs to pay a bit more attention to himself, in a confident manner. It is very frustrating to watch, because it is apparent that he has a lot of potential, and is in much better shape thwan many of his competitors, but the mental game needs to be sharpened more, because that part of strategy plays a huge part in the final results
reemmo022-11-2024 - hahahaha love this shit! I didnt even watched the race, but reading all the gossip articles of how stupid this is!Zatoichi19-11-2024
- Van Aert is really handsome. He can influence me all day! Ditto for Philipsen. Why do you think many of us love cycling?: to see heroic attempts at climbing mountains at high altitudes or to watch speedsters sprint for the finish line or to watch a human being ride at break neck speed down a tricky descent? No, it's all about their lean physiques and muscular legs. (apologies for objectifying these dedicated and amazing athletes).BarwonHeadsUp25-10-2024
- It is unfortunate that the author can't feel the joy that Pogacar brings to the sport and his fans who are legion and I for one feel lucky to have watched such a memorable performance and historic season From the Strada until yesterday with multiple wins in stages in both tours and beyond dominance in the World's. He is proud to wear the Rainbow stripes, shows his leadership to protect his fellows and is as courteous and sportsman-like as the sport allows. He goes early to not have to respond to each attack as all the rest would make him do it. Any racer who could would do the same. Don't "grow tired" of greatness as it is always fleeting.ccrider13-10-2024
- What load of rubbish. Pog is likely a once in a generation cyclist, the like of which hasn't been seen since 'the Cannibal '. How many people were complaining that Merckx was making racing predictable? I remember this year's World RR as one of the most exciting I've watched. Mainly BECAUSE Pog was the favourite and launched what everyone thought (Pog included) was a suicidal attack with 80km to go. For the next 2 hours, I was on the edge of my seat thinking "this is too much, even for Pog". Maybe Zonnefeld prefers the snooze-fest that is a bunch sprint? Like most people I know, I can't watch two hours of the bunch riding very fast... I wait for the final 5km and watch just the sprint. In any event, most races are won from a sprint or lone break. What difference does it make who makes the lone break? Ultimately, the other contenders will have to figure out a way to beat Pog. Even if that means collaboration between teams. It's going to be an exciting few seasons, until the next Pog arrives on the scene. If this is boring, heaven knows what exciting looks like!Michael513-10-2024