Double pack! Bennett takes his second victory on stage 3 of the Vuelta
As on Saturday, Sam Bennett from Bora-Hansgrohe won the bunch sprint after 193.2 kilometres around Breda. The Dane Mads Pedersen finished second ahead of the Brit Daniel McLay. Pascal Ackermann finished ninth on stage 3 after sprinting to fifth place the day before in Utrecht.
Affini in the red jersey after stage 3
Before the transfer to Spain, where the tour continues on Tuesday after the first rest day, the Italian Edoardo Affini leads the overall standings. The 26-year-old won the team time trial on Friday with the Jumbo-Visma team. This also put defending champion Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) in a good position, who is currently third in the classification.
At the mountainous Vuelta, the sprinters only have five or six chances of a mass finish. Ackermann recently crashed heavily at the European Championships in Munich when he hit his head with full force into a barrier. The 28-year-old received a few stitches on his finger, which he says no longer causes him any problems. Ackermann had won two stages at the Vuelta in 2020.
Profile of stage 3 (Sunday, 21 August 2022: Breda - Breda - 193.2 kilometres
The stages of the Vuelta in detail
Unlike in the Tour de France, the leader's jersey in the Vuelta is not yellow, but red. We have summarised which other leader's jerseys and special classifications there are in the Tour of Spain in our text on the rules.
Numerous top cycling stars will be at the start of the 2022 Vuelta. TOUR has compiled an overview of the line-ups of the 23 teams.
Tour of Spain for women
In addition to the men's race, there will also be another Vuelta for women in 2022, the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. It will take place from 7 to 11 September with a total of five stages.
The first stage starts in Marina de Cudeyo in Cantabria, with the final section finishing four days later in the Spanish capital Madrid.
History of the Vuelta
The men's Vuelta a Espana is back after the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France the third of the three major national tours (Grand Tours), which will be held in 2022. The Tour of Spain was held for the first time in 1935 and is therefore younger than its Italian and French counterparts.
Until the 1990s, the Vuelta traditionally took place in spring. The date was then moved to August or September. There was one exception in 2020, when the Vuelta was moved to October and November due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The record winner is the Spaniard Roberto Heras with four titles. Three Germans have won the race so far: Rudi Altig (1962), Rolf Wolfshohl (1965) and Jan Ullrich (1999).
