La Vuelta Femenina: Vos outkicks Kool for stage 3 victory after echelon frenzy

Marianne Vos sprinted to stage 3 victory in leader's red jersey (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma in the Red Leader Jersey celebrates at finish line as stage 3 winner ahead of Charlotte Kool of Team DSM in the Green points jersey (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Marianne Vos rides in front group in leader's red jersey (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Charlotte Kook congratulates Marianne Vos on her win (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Floortje Mackaij finishes at the back of the first group (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Mackaij was greeted by a friendly face, her puppy Bella (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Bella drew a crowd and relished all the attention (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

The peloton ripped apart by crosswinds on stage 3 (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Mavi García (Liv Racing Teqfind) leads the early attack during stage 3 from Elche de la Sierra to La Roda (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

sStage 3 covers 157.8km in extremely warm temperatures with some climbing early from Elche de la Sierra (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM Racing) rides just behind Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) with Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) on her left in the Pink UCI Womens WorldTour Leader Jersey (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

The peloton battles with echelons due to the crosswinds (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

A general view of the peloton passing through Pozohondo Village (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Nina Kessler of Team Jayco-AlUla assisted by a mechanic (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) gets hydration from the team car as temperatures climb above 30-degrees Celsius (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Floortje Mackaij and Paula Patio of Movistar Team near the front of an echelon along with Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) in the Red Leader Jersey (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

The peloton begins longest stage of week, 157.8km, from Elche de la Sierra to La Roda (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Clara Copponi of Team FDJ-SUEZ wearing a cooling vest prior to the start (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Jade Wiel of Team FDJ-SUEZ in the Polka Dot Mountain Jersey alongside race leader Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma at the start (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) starts stage 3 in the Red Leader Jersey (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) won stage 3 of the Vuelta Femenina in the red leader's jersey, sprinting to victory after a very fast stage dominated by tail-crosswinds and echelons. The Dutch superstar launched her sprint with 200 metres to go and had the highest speed after a hard day. Kool finished second, Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) took third place.

The race split with 93 km left in the 157.8-kilometre stage when Movistar Team took action in the cross-tailwinds. Trek-Segafredo's Gaia Realini was the most prominent of the dropped riders that also included several other GC contenders. Realini's teammates tried everything to limit the time loss, but they finished 2:41 minutes behind in the end.

We were not so far off yesterday and knew there would be another chance today. But it was quite a hard day with the crosswinds. I am grateful to my team for bringing me into this position and happy that I could finish it off in the final," said Vos.

"We were well-prepared for the crosswinds, but you still need to focus constantly. In the beginning, it was quite relaxed, actually, because there was not much going on, and suddenly you need to switch on and get ready for the action. And from then on it was constantly a high-speed race, trying to stay in the first echelon," she described the day that was the fastest Women's WorldTour stage ever, raced at an average speed of 45.6 km/h.

In the general classification, Vos increased her lead due to bonus seconds and is now 13 seconds ahead of Dygert and 14 ahead of her teammate Riejanne Markus.

How it unfolded

Stage 3 was the longest of the Vuelta and also one of the flattest with no classified climbs at all, but nevertheless it ended up bringing about huge GC time gaps.

None of the early breakaway attempts lasted for long, and when the parcours turned with 97 km to go and tail-crosswinds started to sweep across the road, the action began. Movistar put the race in the gutter, leaving only 55 riders in the first peloton after a few kilometres. Realini, Kristen Faulkner (Team Jayco-AlUla), Marta Cavalli (FDJ-SUEZ), and Claire Steels (Israel-Premier Tech Roland) were among the riders that found themselves dropped and struggling to get back.

Team Jumbo-Visma, Team SD Worx, and Team DSM took responsibility for keeping the pace up, and 48 km from the finish, the front group split again. Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) and Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) were among the dropped riders, and they were later joined by a.o. Ane Santesteban (Team Jayco-AlUla) when the Basque climber lost contact with the first peloton 18 km from the line.

In the end, only 29 riders finished in the first group. Kasia Niewiadoma led out the sprint with Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) on her wheel, followed by Clara Copponi (FDJ-SUEZ), Riejanne Markus, Kool, and Vos. The latter two started their sprints almost simultaneously 250 metres from the finish.

Vos went to the right side of the road, Kool to the left, both quickly passing Norsgaard and Copponi in the middle. On the last 100 metres, Vos pulled away and kept the lead to the line, switching the stage 2 placings with Kool. Dygert came up fast from behind to take third place.

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