From Team Sky:
Chris Froome delivered a superb tactical performance to move into the race lead at the 2017 Vuelta a Espana on stage three.
Froome went on the attack in the final kilometres to finish third on the first mountain stage of the race which was won by Vincenzo Nibali, but benefitted from taking key bonus seconds to move into the red jersey.
The Team Sky leader was first across the line on the last intermediate sprint before the final climb which yielded three bonus seconds that would prove pivotal as he now leads the race by two seconds.
His teammates had done the groundwork on penultimate climb Coll de la Rabassa, pushing the pace on the front of the peloton to thin the bunch and reel in a long ranging breakaway on the descent.
Then once Froome had taken the intermediate seconds, Diego Rosa and Gianni Moscon combined at the base of the final climb within the final 10km to further split the leading group and create gaps which Mikel Nieve was able to exploit further as the ascent continued.
And with 7.7km to go Froome accelerated again with only Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) able to match his pace until chasing duo Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Fabio Aru (Astana) caught them on the descent.
In the closing kilometre a larger group containing NIbali, David De La Cruz (Quick-Step Floors), Tejay Van Garderen and Nicolas Roche (both BMC Racing) bridged the gap too which setup a sprint finish.
NIbali emerged from the elite bunch to take the stage win, with De La Cruz second and Froome third, sealing four bonus seconds and the race lead and after the race Froome hailed his teammates for a superb attacking display which started with more than 40km to go.
A Win For Nibali:
Bahrain Merida Team’s captain won Stage 3 in the race’s first mountain stage, sprinting to 1st place ahead of De La Cruz and Froome.
“We’re only on the third day. It wasn’t easy to be ready for climbs and to win such a stage contesting the sprint” says Nibali speaking just after the finish “I had some difficulties on the last ascent, where my rivals keep a high tempo. I was behind and I must recover on the downhill to close the gap to the front small group of riders and try my chance to take the win”
In the final km the Italian rider surprised his rivals, anticipating the sprint. “I knew that it was difficult to win, because there were very fast riders and today’s stage was really demanding due to high temperature too” adds Nibali, who after the stage wears the Green Jersey of leader of the points classification “It’s a long way to go”.
“We told him from the team car – says Head of Performance Paolo Slongo – to try in the finale and after his fantasy and his class did the rest”.
Stage 3 Brief Results:
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain-Merida) 4:01:22″
- David De La Cruz (Spain / Quick-Step Floors) ST
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky)
- Romain Bardet (France / AG2R La Mondiale)
- Esteban Chaves (Colombia / Orica-Scott)
- Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana Pro Team)
- Nicolas Roche (Ireland / BMC Racing Team)
- Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing Team)
- Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R La Mondiale)
- Michael Woods (Canada / Cannondale-Drapac) +25″
General Classification After Stage 3:
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 8:53:44″
- David De La Cruz (Spain / Quick-Step Floors) +2″
- Nicolas Roche (Ireland / BMC Racing Team)
- Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing Team)
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain-Merida) +10″
- Esteban Chaves (Colombia / Orica-Scott) +11″
- Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana Pro Team) +38″
- Adam Yates (Britain / Orica-Scott) +39″
- Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R La Mondiale) +43″
- Romain Bardet (France / AG2R La Mondiale) +48″
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