
Rolling out of Perpignan this morning, Jonas Iversby Hvideberg looked resplendent in the race leader’s jersey as the peloton embarked on stage three of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya; as the first mountain stage of the week lay ahead of them and the classic La Molina finish.
It was a fast start to the day with several attacks before eventually a four rider break got clear, with the team represented in the attack for the third stage in a row as Casper Pedersen infiltrated the move. As the kilometres ticked by their advantage increased to over eight minutes before it began to steadily fall throughout the day. Giving it his all in the break, Pedersen was eventually caught on the final ascent of La Molina, where Iversby Hvideberg eventually had to relinquish the bunch after a great day out in the leader’s jersey.
With the breakaway almost caught, Henri Vandenabeele launched a stinging attack out of the peloton, bridging across to the remnants of the move and going clear himself. Pushing on out front, eventual stage winner O’Connor jumped from the peloton over to Vandenabeele where he continued to drive the pace. Instead of going into the red after making his initial move, Vandenabeele returned to the reduced bunch, where he rode ably all the way to the finish with the rest of the climbers.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | O'CONNOR Ben | AG2R Citroën Team | 4:12:51 | 50 |
2 | AYUSO Juan | UAE Team Emirates | 0:06 | 20 |
3 | QUINTANA Nairo | Team Arkéa Samsic | ,, | 8 |
21 | VANDENABEELE Henri | Team DSM | 0:09 | - |
73 | DONOVAN Mark | Team DSM | 4:11 | - |
108 | PEDERSEN Casper | Team DSM | 11:15 | - |
127 | HVIDEBERG Jonas Iversby | Team DSM | 14:46 | - |
129 | BRENNER Marco | Team DSM | ,, | - |
145 | COMBAUD Romain | Team DSM | 27:04 | - |
1005 | MAYRHOFER Marius | Team DSM | -04:12:51 | - |