The Italian rider won the final sprint of stage 3 hands down, clinching his first victory of the season. Rafal Majka and Roman Kreuziger finished once again in the leading group, retaining their GC aspirations ahead of tomorrow’s tough time-trial.
The third stage of the Ruta del Sol, from Monachil to Padul (157.9 km), featured an undulating terrain with a third-category and three second-category climbs, set on the foothills of Sierra Nevada. Nine riders initiated an early breakaway with Manuele Boaro in it.
The escapees managed to build a maximum gap of 3:50 but several teams were pulling hard behind them in order to bring them back. The breakaway was caught at the bottom of the climb to Puerto del Legionario, which made a selection in the peloton. Rafal Majka, Roman Kreuziger and Oscar Gatto managed to always stay in the front positions of the group.
After the summit, the peloton tackled a final hilly stretch, taking a group of about 40 riders into the final sprint. The Tinkoff train brought Oscar Gatto in the best position for the sprint, where the Italian rider truly made a difference, by winning hands down with more than a bike length on second-placed Ben Swift.
“Today’s parcours was challenging and this morning we gathered better information on it, which led us to a change in our tactics. This allowed us to keep our calm, thanks as well to the fact we had Manuele Boaro on a breakaway”, stated Sport Director Bruno Cenghialta.
“The teams chasing the breakaway worked very hard and spent a lot of energy, so in the last part of the stage we managed to position four riders in the leading group heading into the final sprint. For Oscar Gatto it was a superb stage. Yesterday, he already had very good vibes but was unlucky as he punctured. As a result, today we were relying on him. This morning I told him that today he’d have a very big chance, so he took it. When you’re in such a great shape as he is now, you must take advantage of these opportunities, and Majka together with Kreuziger perfectly positioned him for this sprint, slightly uphill, where thanks to his amazing power he was able to win hands down”.
Oscar Gatto, today’s winner, commented on the stage: “I was feeling very well already in the first stage, I was fit, then we won with Bennati, so that was perfect. Yesterday, I was in the leading positions after passing the summit but unfortunately I punctured in the descent so I had to get a new wheel and say goodbye to my dreams of glory. Today, I was feeling very fit again, so on the final climb there were about thirty riders and I was there and the feeling was good. I was very pleased that great riders such as Majka and Kreuziger helped me today. Then, as last man I had Jay McCarthy who paced me up to perfection to deliver the sprint in style, and this kind of finishes are most suited to my skills”.
Saturday will see the fourth stage of the race, an individual time trial of 21 km with a slightly uphill final 3 km, that is bound bring some changes in the GC in view of the final and decisive stage on Sunday.
“Tomorrow we face a very tough time trial. It’s a test of strength, so it’s quite clear that it’s going to be a matter for specialists. The parcours is very demanding and we’re going to check it thoroughly to make sure we have everything under control. This time trial will tell us more about the real forces on the field”, concluded Bruno Cenghialta.
