Evenepoel and Vingegaard had broken away from a leading group of around 30 riders that Red Bull had formed on the windward edge with just under 30 kilometres to go. When the Belgian attacked, only Vingegaard was able to cling to his rear wheel. Initially, the Dane refrained from joining in, but then he intervened sporadically. When the gap, which had already grown to almost half a minute, shrank again, Evenepoel had to go it alone again for the last ten kilometres.

"The teamwork was really excellent," said Evenepoel later ironically from the door of his team bus. In the meantime, he had also put his feet up, but then launched a final attack that would have been enough to keep the field at bay had it not been for the crash. "I wanted to grab the lower handlebars and that's exactly when I hit a pothole. I just didn't see it. There were no markings or anything like that. That's why I missed it and lost control of the handlebars," said the Belgian about the scene that cost him a possible victory on the day.

Evenepoel leaves continuation of the tour open

And perhaps even more. Although he finished the race, he left it open as to whether he would be able to compete in the next stage. "I have a few slightly larger injuries. We'll see how my body reacts tonight and tomorrow morning. But I'm still standing. Nothing is broken, so that's positive. My elbow is pretty sore. We'll have to see what works and what doesn't."

While Evenepoel was still rinsing out his wounds at the site of the accident, Godon rode to a commanding second stage win in Catalonia. More than a bike length separated him from second-placed Ethan Vernon (NSN Pro Cycling Team) and Noah Hobbs (EF Education - EasyPost) in third place.

Ultimately, the day had no direct impact on the overall result. Godon leads the classification by eleven seconds ahead of Evenepoel, who was classified at the same time due to the five-kilometre rule. Third is Thomas Pidcock (Pinarello - Q36th), fourth Vingegaard.

Tour of Catalonia 2026 - Results of the 3rd stage

>> All information about the Tour of Catalonia 2026

How the 3rd stage of the Tour of Catalonia 2026 went

A group of six riders used the challenging first quarter of the stage, which was quite short and not too difficult overall, to open up a maximum lead of just under four minutes. Among the escapees were old acquaintances who had already gone on the offensive on the first two days. Such as Josh Burnett (Burgos Burpellet BH), Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma) and above all Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché), the best points scorer of the current tour both in sprints and in the mountain classifications. He once again had a team-mate at his side in Reuben Thompson.

Veistroffer once again collected maximum points at the first two mountain classifications of the day, and he also left no doubt at the first intermediate sprint. With 70 kilometres to go, the group was almost over when a counter-attack from the peloton left only ten seconds remaining. However, the interests of the peloton were different, they slowed down and the gap grew to over a minute.

Red Bull sends the field onto the windward edge and Evenepoel attacks

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe then took command of the peloton on the final climb - both uphill and downhill. At the 30-kilometre mark, the last flat section had been reached and the breakaway was caught. In addition, after Red Bull, the peloton was on the windward edge. Around 30 riders made it into the first group - Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), one of the favourites for the overall victory, was not among them.

Evenepoel then broke away from the leading group. Vingegaard jumped behind. The duo built up a lead of almost half a minute over the remaining kilometres. However, when Almeida and the sprinters made the jump to the chasing group and took over the pace work there, the gap shrank again. So much so that Vingegaard completely stopped his already cautious co-operation. Evenepoel shook his head, put his legs up - and then started again.

The peloton would no longer have been able to close the gap to Evenepoel and Vingegaard. But the Belgian's crash at the entrance to the last roundabout 500 metres before the finish changed everything. Vingegaard then took himself out of the race, so that there was still a sprint, which Godon was able to win.