The Tour of Catalonia continues to be dominated by Tadej Pogacar. The two-time Tour de France winner once again left the competition standing on the third stage, which led over 176.7 kilometres from Sant Joan de les Abadesses to the mountain arrival in Port Aine at an altitude of 1960 metres. Already 7.4 kilometres before the finish, Pogacar pulled away and secured the 66th victory of his professional career with a 48-second lead over Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step). Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) led the next chasing group to the finish 1:03 minutes behind.
That was very exhausting. The team did a great job again. I'm happy to have won because the team worked very hard for it. - Tadej Pogacar in the winner's interview
Tour of Catalonia 2024 - Results: The top 10 of stage 3
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 4:34:25
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:48
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:03
- Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:03
- Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:03
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:10
- Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +1:10
- Chris Harper (Team Jayco-AlUla) +1:10
- Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) +1:10
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +1:10
The overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 13:38:12
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +2:27
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:55
- Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) +3:21
- Chris Harper (Team Jayco-AlUla) +3:22
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +3:27
- Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) +3:34
- Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) +3:34
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +3:50
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +3:52
This is how the 3rd stage of the Tour of Catalonia 2024 went
With Pavel Bittner (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Loe van Belle (Visma | Lease a Bike) there were two non-starters. Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) launched the first attack out of the peloton. Florian Lipowitz (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Javier Romo (Movistar) caught up a little later. However, the trio's breakaway attempt was soon history. Ten riders then set off and attempted a breakaway: Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny), Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal - Quick Step). Hugh Carthy (EF Education EasyPost), Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek), Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Team Jayco-AlUla), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and Paul Miquel (Equipo Kern Pharma). UAE Team Emirates and Visma | Lease a Bike were not satisfied with the situation and brought this group back as well.
Tadej Pogacar counters Mikel Landa's attack
A peloton of around 40 riders went into the final climb together. Victor de la Parte (Euskaltel-Euskadi) launched the first attack there. The 37-year-old was caught again when Soudal - Quick Step stepped up the pace. The men around Mikel Landa organised a classic breakaway on the mountain. 7.4 kilometres before the finish, Landa attacked. Tadej Pogacar went with him and countered the Basque rider's attack - Pogacar took the lead alone. Shortly afterwards, Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) pulled away from the group of favourites and closed the gap to Landa.
The Kuss-Landa tandem was visited by Chris Harper (Team Jayco-AlUla) a good four kilometres before the finish. Further back, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) dropped back from the third group. With Pogacar's first chasers, Landa accelerated again and dropped his two companions, who were absorbed by the next group shortly afterwards.
Bora-Hansgrohe captain Aleksandr Vlasov maintains third place
Enric Mas (Movistar) also tried again. However, the Spaniard's attack fizzled out. Landa crossed the finish line in second place, followed by Antonio Tiberi, Wout Poels (both Bahrain-Victorious) and Sepp Kuss, who gained a small lead. A little later, Bora-Hansgrohe captain Aleksandr Vlasov also crossed the finish line in third place overall.
There were two big losers in the top 10: Egan Bernal, who dropped two positions and is now 9th, and Joao Almeida. Pogacar's team-mate dropped six places to tenth.
The Tour of Catalonia 2024 continues on Thursday with stage 4, which leads over 169 kilometres from Sort to Lleida. There is only one category 2 mountain classification on the programme - the sprinters may get their chance.
