2017 Vuelta a España Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2017 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
Nibali scores win in Andorra\t\t
The “Shark of Messina” surprised everyone with a win after 158 kilometres of tough racing through the mountains of Spain today. The Sicilian saw his opportunity to attack out of a select group in the closing meters of the race and held his advantage to the line. David de la Cruz (Quick-Step Floors) finished in second and Chris Froome (SKY) rounded out the podium in third.
The result puts Froome into the red leaders jersey, two seconds ahead of de la Cruz.
Unlike yesterday, today’s break was quick to establish itself with Caja Rural’s Fabricio Ferrari the first to make a move to get up the road. Ferrari was joined by Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), David Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) and Anthony Turgis (Cofidis), Axel Domont, Przemyslaw Niemiec, Alexandre Geniez (AG2R La Mondiale) and Fernando Orjuela (Manzana Postobon).
The group of eight gained a healthy advantage over the peloton, at times reaching more than five minutes but for the most part, the gap sat at around 3:30 during the middle of the race.
That gap quickly came down on the penultimate climb, the Coll de la Rabassa, when Team Sky took to the front in pursuit. The leaders were eventually caught before the start of the Alto de la Comella where the GC contenders started to assemble.
Again, Team Sky ramped up the pace that only Esteban Chaves and Fabio Aru, with a few others, was able to withstand. Alberto Contador, the seasoned Spanish veteran in his last race, could not.
Froome attacked with 7 kilometres to go, taking Chaves along with him. On the final descent, Romain Bardet was able to bridge across, as did Fabio Aru. Other GC contenders were also in the mix heading to the finish, where Nibali timed his attack just right to win with enough time to post up and celebrate his win. \n
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