Whilst the start of the stage along the French Mediterranean coast could still be described as hot, the sky grew increasingly overcast the closer the riders got to the Pyrenees. On the final kilometres up to the day’s first mountain classification, heavy rain set in, before hailstones as large as a centimetre began to fall as the riders gained altitude.

Riders who had already been dropped began to seek safe shelter by the roadside on their own initiative, whilst the race was still underway at the front. The two breakaway riders, Mats Wenzel (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team), initially kept pushing on. At the front of the peloton, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates -XRG) shook his head, signalling to the group to slow down and stop. Many professionals found shelter in a hotel.

With no stage classification, the final standings after the second day will serve as the starting position for Stage 4. Pogacar continues to lead the general classification, nine seconds ahead of Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). The Slovenian also tops the points classification. Koen Bouwman (Team Jayco AlUla) holds the mountains’ jersey, whilst Matthew Brennan (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) is the best young rider.

2026 Vuelta a España – Results of Stage 3

Here’s how the 3rd stage of the 2026 Tour of Spain unfolded

Six riders seized the day’s very first attack to break away from the peloton. Once again among them was Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step), who had already been in the breakaway the day before. Joining him were Wenzel, Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), Olivier Le Gac (Groupama – FDJ United), Timo Roosen (Team Picnic PostNL) and Asbjörn Hellemose (Team Jayco AlUla). For a long time, the lead hovered between two and a half and three minutes.

As the race approached the Pyrenees, things suddenly became hectic in the peloton as echelons began to form. For a few kilometres around the halfway point of the race, the peloton was split into two groups, but everything came back together again before the final stretch.

Wenzel leaves all the other escapees behind

With 29 kilometres to go, as the climb up to the Col du Mont-Louis (Category 1) had already begun, the breakaway’s lead had shrunk to just under half a minute. Cort, Hellemose and Wenzel then accelerated and left their rivals behind. Although their lead increased again briefly, the general trend was clear.

With 24 kilometres to go, Hellemose also had to let the breakaway go. At the same time, heavy rain set in. A few moments later, Cort was also unable to keep up with Wenzel. Instead, the rest of the breakaway were caught again. Meanwhile, Fortunato launched an attack from the peloton and caught up with the Luxembourger just before the intermediate sprint.

Then it began to hail heavily. After the first riders to fall behind pulled over of their own accord to seek shelter, the race was subsequently neutralised. The professionals sought shelter in a hotel. The jury then decided to abandon the race.