Over a course that encouraged a quick tempo and even quicker descending, stage 3 of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco got progressively faster in the race to the finish. With multiple breakaways and splits over the full distance of the stage the aim was to keep Alberto safe and to ensure he came over the finish in Lesaka with no time lost to his rivals. After a strong effort by the whole team, Alberto crossed the line with the bunch, taking the same time as the stage winner.
On the race’s longest day, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco covered 193.5km, taking in five categorised climbs along the way. With a mix of tough climbs and tricky descents on damp roads, racing was hard, and a break formed early in the day – a group of five managed to quickly gain five minutes on the peloton, staying clear for much of the stage.
With 40km to go, the leader’s group upped the pace, eager to draw in the escapees, with the gap falling to less than a minute with 34km to go. As the gap decreased, attacks came and splits formed, but with only one climb left on the stage, the 3rd category Agina, it was important to catch the break before the run in to the finish. With the breakaway caught, a solo attack took the win, but not enough to take any time, with Alberto Contador crossing the line with the same time as the stage winner.
The pace throughout the stage was fast and frenetic, as Sport Director, Steven De Jongh, reported from the finish. “It was a very fast stage with a hard final as we had mentioned yesterday, with a very twisty and technical descent and not a straight forward run in. Despite this the boys did well. Evgeny Petrov, Matteo Tosatto & Michael Valgren worked hard to keep Roman Kreuziger, Robert Kiserlovski and Alberto Contador out of wind and in position, and then on final three climbs those two guys did the job for Alberto who was looking good again today.”
“The first part of the stage was the calmest so far in the race.” said Alberto after the race. “The pace then picked up as there were teams interested in getting to the finish in a group. That resulted in a fast race but in the end what counted was to be well positioned in order to avoid having any surprises. We finished the day without any problems and the weather was on our side.”
After suffering on yesterday’s stage, the team lost another valuable member today. “Unfortunately we lost Jesper Hansen today,” said De Jongh. “He was already sick in Catalunya and he was one of the riders we had to bring in at last minute in the hope that he improved as the race went on but today he was empty and it was best for him to stop the race.”
While the race so far has been far from flat, tomorrow it takes in its first official mountain stage. The 165km route from Lesaka to Orio takes in six categorised climbs, with three second category climbs in the final 35km before what’s expected to be a fast descent into Orio. De Jongh was clear that the team’s first priority was not to lose any time in tomorrow’s stage. “Tomorrow is going to be another day like today where we focus on defending the position that we have now and not losing any time or making any silly mistakes. After this we have two hard days still to come which will be important for the overall.”
While the mountains presented the opportunity to create time gaps, Alberto was expecting the time trial to have the biggest impact on the GC. “Tomorrow will be similar to today with maybe less favourable weather conditions. We will have to be attentive, especially in the finale, but in my opinion it is the time trial that will decide the race.”
Stage Result
1. Stephen Cummings (GBR) Dimension Data 05:01:57
2. Simon Gerrans (AUS) Orica-GreenEDGE +00:00:00
3. Fabio Felline (ITA) Trek-Segafredo +00:00:00
4. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA) Etixx-Quick Step +00:00:00
5. Giovanni Visconti (ITA) Movistar +00:00:00
16. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:00:00
34. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:00:00
47. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +00:00:00
80. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +00:03:57
The team lost Jesper Hansen to sickness on stage 3, reducing them to just six.
