The first mountain finish of the Vuelta a Espana provided the first clash between the favourites for overall victory. After 158.5 kilometres, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) triumphed at 1914 metres above sea level ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates).
For a long time, the stage was characterised by a breakaway group around Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe). The German was only caught as the last breakaway rider shortly before the finish before the favourites' group sprinted.
Vuelta a Espana 2023: Evenepoel covered in blood after crashing at the finish line
Evenepoel took off around 200 metres before the finish, Vingegaard tried to follow. However, the Tour de France winner lacked the necessary punch to close the gap. For Evenepoel, however, it was a painful victory. He collided with a woman after crossing the finish line and fell down. After a few moments, the Belgian got up again with his face covered in blood. The time trial world champion suffered a cut over his right eye.
Evenepoel also secured the overall leader's red jersey by winning stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana.
"We had the perfect tactics today: be patient and wait. We rode at the front on the last descent. That was a good decision. I felt very good on the final climb and set up a long sprint. I'm super happy about this victory," said Remco Evenepoel in the winner's interview.
Tour of Spain 2023 - Results: The top 10 of stage 3
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) 4:15:39
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +0:01
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +0:01
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +0:01
- Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +0:01
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:01
- Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) +0:01
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:01
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +0:01
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:01
The overall standings
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) 8:43:11
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:05
- Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) +0:11
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +0:31
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:33
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:33
- Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) +0:35
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:35
- Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) +0:37
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Vimsa) +0:37
How the 3rd stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2023 went
It took almost 40 kilometres before the breakaway group of the day formed: eleven riders, including two German riders, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain-Victorious), broke away from the peloton. While Sütterlin had to help his boss Damiano Caruso in the leading group, Kämna was able to ride free.
On the climb to the Coll d'Ordino, Caruso, Kämna and Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto-Dstny) outsprinted their fellow escapees. On the wet descent from the Coll d'Ordino, Sepulveda was no longer able to keep up with Kämna and Caruso. The duo set off on the final climb with a lead of just over a minute. There, Kämna put the pedal to the metal and distanced Caruso, first briefly and later definitively. The lead over the peloton grew slightly again.
However, when UAE Team Emirates with Jay Vine pushed the pace for Juan Ayuso, Kämna's lead quickly melted away. After attacks by Ayuso and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), the Bora-Hansgrohe pro was finally caught. It came to a sprint of the group of favourites. Evenepoel tackled the race from the front. Nobody was able to counter the explosive attack of the Belgian road champion - not even Jonas Vingegaard.
