Vuelta a Espa̱a РStage 3

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Stage 3 in the Tour of Spain saw the sprinters go head to head whilst there was no change in the overall leader of the race

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Vuelta a Espa̱a РStage 3

Tinkoff Saxo’s Peter Sagan claimed a sprint win on stage 3 of Vuelta a España after a powerful acceleration into the final hundred meters. “I’m very happy for this victory – it’s good for the entire team”, says Sagan, who grabbed the win in front of Bouhanni and Degenkolb.

“I’m very happy for this victory because I think it’s good for the entire team. This is a good start to the Vuelta a España. And finally I had a victory! I’m always trying to get the win and someday it has to come. And it did today, also thanks to my teammates, who were pulling all day and I’m very grateful for their effort. I’ve had many second places but you cannot always finish second. So today I finished first. That’s how cycling is, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. I was searching for a victory during the Tour and now it has come”, says Peter Sagan and adds about how the victory came about.

“My team spent a lot of energy, mostly in the last 20km, where we had headwind and we wanted to catch the breakaway. Bennati crashed on the descent so he couldn’t be there with me in the final kilometers. Today was also a day for Degenkolb and Bouhanni but their teams didn’t work at the front before the last three kilometers and I decided to take Degenkolb’s wheel, which was the right decision”.

Peter Sagan is at the Vuelta with dual ambitions in the shape of a quest for stage wins and building shape towards the World Championships in late September. “I’m here at the Vuelta to do the best for my team and to get race kilometres into the legs before the World Championships. It’s good to know already that I have some speed in the legs and then we’ll see how it goes. The Vuelta is very hard but this is a good start for me and my teammates”, tells Peter Sagan.

Orica’s Chaves retains red for another day
Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEdge), finished safely in the bunch on stage three of the Vuelta a Espana to retain the red leader’s jersey.

“The team worked fantastic today, all of the guys for me,” Chaves said. “It’s really good to have the experienced guys like Mat Hayman, Simon Gerrans, Daryl Impey and Cameron Meyer to help keep the red jersey.”

Asked if wearing a Grand Tour leader’s jersey created any nerves, the 2014 Tour de Suisse and Tour of California stage winner conceded. “Of course,” he laughed. “I’m really scared, not nervous, scared.” “It’s a really big responsibility, but this is part of the game, this is beautiful.”

The Race
After an active start, eight riders established the day’s main breakaway. ORICA-GreenEDGE immediately took their position at the front of the peloton to control the advantage and defend the red jersey on the back of Chaves.

The gap hovered between two and four minutes over the first climb and toward the day’s major climb, a category one. Over the top of the tough 15km climb, and with just under 70km to go, the gap had reduced to two minutes.

Tinkoff-Saxo took over duties at the head of the peloton as ORICA-GreenEDGE sprinter Caleb Ewan lost contact. Giant-Alpecin also pitched in and with 15km to go the race came back together for the expected sprint.

Today’s stage four is a long 203km journey from Estepona to Vejer de la Frontera.
Stage 3
1 SAGAN Peter TINKOFF – SAXO 04h 06′ 46”
2 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
3 DEGENKOLB John TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN
4 DRUCKER Jean-Pierre BMC RACING TEAM
5 RICHEZE ARIEL Maximiliano LAMPRE – MERIDA
6 SBARAGLI Kristian MTN – QHUBEKA
7 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GreenEDGE
8 STUYVEN Jasper TREK FACTORY RACING
9 REYNES MIMO Vicente IAM CYCLING
10 VAN ASBROECK Tom TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
11 MAES Nikolas ETIXX – QUICK STEP
12 VAN DER SANDE Tosh LOTTO SOUDAL
13 VAN WINDEN Dennis TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
14 BARBERO Carlos CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA
15 RUBIANO CHAVEZ Miguel Angel COLOMBIA
16 TEUNISSEN Mike TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
17 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX – QUICK STEP
18 GONCALVES José CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA
19 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY
20 OLIVEIRA Nelson LAMPRE – MERIDA

21 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM
25 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SKY
49 THOMAS Geraint TEAM SKY
59 MARTIN Daniel TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN
148 CUMMINGS Stephen MTN – QHUBEKA + 01′ 35”

Overall
1 CHAVES RUBIO Johan Esteban ORICA GreenEDGE 08h 04′ 01”
2 DUMOULIN Tom TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN + 00′ 05”
3 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SKY + 00′ 15”
4 MARTIN Daniel TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN + 00′ 24”
5 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 35”
6 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 36”
7 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 38”
8 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY + 00′ 40”
9 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 40”
10 ARU Fabio ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 47”
11 LANDA MEANA Mikel ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 51”
12 SICARD Romain TEAM EUROPCAR + 00′ 51”
13 NIEVE ITURRALDE Mikel TEAM SKY + 00′ 51”
14 MEINTJES Louis MTN – QHUBEKA + 00′ 52”
15 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 55”
16 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01′ 04”
17 CARDOSO MARTINS André Fernando S. TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN + 01′ 04”
18 BRAMBILLA Gianluca ETIXX – QUICK STEP + 01′ 04”
19 ROSSETTO Stéphane COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 01′ 04”
20 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis TEAM SKY + 01′ 06”

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