2016 Vuelta a España Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2016 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Geniez wins on Mirador de Ézaro
Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) claimed the second Vuelta a Espana stage win after claiming victory on stage 3 atop the Mirador de Ézaro. Geniez was the last man standing of a breakaway that went clear in the opening kilometres of the stage.
Movistar’s Ruben Fernandez got permission to attack from his two leaders and followed Geniez in for second place at 21 seconds back, enough to secure him the race lead. His teammate Valverde come home in third five seconds later with Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) for company.
Geniez made it into the breakaway in the opening 20 kilometres along with six other riders on what was a blisteringly hot day for all involved. He was initially distanced by several attacks on the first climb of the day the Alto de Lestaio but he fought back to mop up the points for the lead of the mountains classification.
The Frenchman looked by far the strongest of the three that remained out front when they hit the final climb, dropping his two companions before launching his bid for glory just before the toughest section of the ascent. As the other escapees were mopped up by what remained of the peloton, Geniez hung on for victory.
Behind, Movistar appeared in control of the situation as Fernandez’s pace caused fractures in the group. Those able to hang on initially were Quintana, Valverde and Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange). Team Sky were nowhere to be seen but Froome dragged himself back into contention in the final metres of the climb, while others such as Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) gave away time. With the line in sight, Fernandez was given the green light to head up the road, giving him the glory of wearing the red jersey for at least a day, while Valverde now sits in second place at seven seconds.
How it happened
There was plenty of climbing to consider in the latter part of the stage but the first challenge for the riders to contend with was the scorching heat. The potential for a breeze off the Atlantic would be a comforting thought for some. Michal Kwiatkowski was the new holder of the red jersey for the day after taking it from his teammate Peter Kennaugh at the end of stage 2.
The riders were given a military escort through the neutral zone before the flag dropped after almost nine kilometres. Interest in making the day's break was high, with a spot in the mountains jersey a high possibility and the lure of a stage win always there. After plenty of action, a serious move began to form with over 10 kilometres of racing done.
Gatis Smukulis and Simon Pellaud (both IAM Cycling), Jerome Cousin (Cofidis) and David Arroyo (Caja Rural) kicked off the move soon after an eight-man attack was brought to heel. Alexandre Geniez (FDJ), Pieter Serry (Etixx - Quick Step) and Rudiger Selig (Bora-Argon18) soon joined them to bring their number to seven in total.
With everything still relatively close in the overall standings, most of the escapees were a threat of some form to the leader's jersey. They were given little more than five minutes to work with as Team Sky set the pace in the main bunch with Tinkoff sitting close in their wheels.
The opening half of the 174km stage was reasonably flat with a few unclassified, but steep, climbs dotted along the way. The third category Alto de Lestaio at the 109km point kicked off the most challenging part of the day and sparked the first big moves from the breakaway group. Cofidis' Cousin struck out on the steep and narrow ascent, bringing Pellaud in his wheel. The two quickly distanced some of the flagging companions who were not as well suited to the gradients that they faced.
First Serry and then Geniez clawed their way back up to the pair but no sooner had the later made contact he was in trouble again as Pellaud upped the pace. Geniez came back again but the young Pellaud was already well on his way to taking the full complement of points at the top of the climb and move himself into equal first place in that competition with Geniez close behind.
Get our full coverage of the Vuelta a España and every race we cover with our mobile app! The apps have over 100 additional exclusive features, including our award-winning Time Machine feature that lets you pause/rewind/replay the entire app to sync with delayed race video, integrated Fantasy Cycling, push notifications, an integrated news feed, live GPS tracking, world-class commentary, and our animated interactive maps and profiles.
