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Volta a Catalunya: Tadej Pogacar dominates stage 2 seizing overall lead
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Volta a Catalunya: Tadej Pogačar does it again on stage 3 summit
Hola and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya.
Stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya is another day in the Pyrenees, with a 176.6 km rider west.
There are three climbs during the stage: Port de Toses (4 km at 9.1%), Port de Canto (25.5 km at 4.2%) and Port Ainé (18.4 km at 6.7%). All that adds up to just under 4,000 meters of elevation gain and surely an opportunity for a quality breakaway.
It'll be fascinating to see how Tadej Pogacar's rivals react after he surged away to win alone and take the race lead.
Will the other teams accept his domiance or try to attack him some how?
The riders have just left the start in Sant Joan de les Abadesses and we have the first answer to our questions.
Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) attacked the moment the flag was dropped.
Race on!
For now the peloton is letting Mollema hang out from but someone will surely join him soon.
🚩Etapa 3⃣ #VoltaCatalunya103💥El primer atac de sortida, @BaukeMollema!🚴♂️Bauke Mollema @LidlTrek is the first attacker!💻LIVE: https://t.co/sFTnPgCoaS pic.twitter.com/mnInyJMmG5March 20, 2024
Florian Lipowitz (Bora-Hansgrohe) has attacked to go after Mollema.
Gruppo compatto. The two attackers have been caught.
We've got more attacks!
The riders are on the steeper part of the Port de Toses, and so climbers are attacking.
Javier Romo (Movistar) was he first to move but others joined him, including Steven Kruijswijk (Visma).
Jack Haig and Andreas Leknessund have surged away and the peloton seems to be letting them go.
As the gradient of the Port de Toses steepens and touches 10%, other riders are on the move.
These are the rider up the road:
Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal), Ethan Hayter (Ineos), Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl), Hugh Carthy (EF), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon), Harold Tejada (Astana) and Andreas Kron (Lotto).
Joan Bou (Euskaltel) is one of several riders trying to go across but the peloton will surely soon ease and slow the peloton.
Or perhaps not.
The riders are two kilometres from the summit of the Port de Toses and the gradient is still 9%.
If the attackers get over the top of the Port de Toses, they have a chance of opening their lead.
This was the quiet before the racing started fast, with Pogacar in the leader's jersey.
The break of 11 riders made it over the summit of the Port de Toses and are diving down the descent.
Vansevenant, Lopez, Carthy, Prodhomme and Tejada got away at the summit but the other riders gradually got back to them on the descent.
Tejada was first to the summit to score 10 KOM points, ahead of Lopez, Carthy and Vansevenant.
UAE Team Emirates ensured the peloton stayed within one minute but on doubt wanted to keep as ma nt riders as possible in the front group to lead the chase later in the stage.
130km to go
With 50 km or so covered the riders now face a long descent to Montferrer i Castellbò for the intermediate sprint.
They descend from 1770m to just 685m in 60km of fast roads west, from the Pyrenees.
These are the ten riders up front:
Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-Quick Step), Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek), Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) ), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny), Ivan Ramiro Sosa (Movistar), Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility).
UAE and the peloton are at less than a minute and isn; letting them go clear, partially because several are GC threats.
Lopez is 22nd overall at 3:03.
100km to go
Everyone is diving down the fast road descent but the gaps stays at 50 seconds.
Fortunately the weather is much better today in Catalunya, with the riders racing in sunny, spring like weather.
Tuesday's stage ended at close to 2000m, with riders suffering in the cold.
Alasdair Fotheringham was on the finish line for Cyclingnews to report on what it was like and on Tadej Pogacar's attacks.
First a joke, then Tadej Pogacar blows the Volta a Catalunya apart
The riders have quickly covered over 90km thanks to the long descent.
The peloton has eased a little, allowing the break to extends their lead to 1:20.
After two hours of racing, including. long climb and long descent, the average speed was 42.3 km/h.
It's time for the Montferrer i Castellbò intermediate sprint.
Carthy, Hayter and Vansevenant took the bonus seconds at the intermediate as the 10-rider attacked rolled through at speed.
65km to go
After the long descent, the Port de Cantó climb starts and last for 25.5 km at an average of 4.2%.
And just like that....
The peloton ups the speed on the climb and the break is caught.
UAE lead the chase but interestingly, it is Visma who are now on the front of the peloton.
Alasdair Fotheringham is at the Volta a Catalunya for Cyclingnews and has driven much of today's stage.
He sent us this information:
"It's chilly and there's a lot of snow on the roadsides, but dry for now and the route is clear. The tarmac pretty churned up in places on final climb from winter snow."
He also drive over the 25km long Port de Cantó climb the riders are on now.
"Its a very long climb, but with lots of false flats and descents and the last five kms are very gentle. There's a very-fast descent to Sort on good, wide roads."
On Port de Canto, the second classified climb of the #VoltaCatalunya103 stage, the breakaway group of @MVansevenant99 has been caught.Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/ih7M5WYACzMarch 20, 2024
The Port de Cantó has been gentle so far but will soon hit a section at 7%. There could be attacks.
45km to go
There's still a careful status quo in the peloton. It's strange but reflects the thought that the climb to the finish will be decisive.
The riders have been climbing the Port de Cantó at speed for 22km now. 3km to go.
The peloton is down to 60 riders or so, with a group of chaser trying to close the gap.
Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) was the first to the top of the Port de Cantó and so took maximum KOM points.
35km to go
The riders are diving down the descent, while some are also taking on bidon's from team cars when the speed allows it.
UAE Team Emirates are leading the front group, making it difficult for the chase group to get back on.
No gifts, as they say.
Well, that was a fast 10km.
The riders are now in Sort and so will soob begin to climb to the finish.
🇪🇸 #VoltaCatalunyaApproaching today’s final climb. 🔜🐝🚂 🏁 25 km. pic.twitter.com/kqhlDp6H2BMarch 20, 2024
19km to go
The climb to Port Ainé begins with a swing right off the main valley road.
The speed is incredibly high, as UAE set a painful pace.
Ouch, the first part of the climb is steep!
The climb will need a 48 minute effort.
Some riders have already been spat out of the back of the group. Others are on the attack.
Víctor de la Parte (Euskaltel) has jumped away but he's not going clear.
The UAE machine is driving the peloton along, with João Almeida, Pavel Sivakov and Marc Soler.
But suddenly Soudal take over!
The change in pace means Soler and Attila Valter of Visma have been dropped.
William Junior Lecerf is giving his all on the front for Soudal. He's hurting a lot of people. Even Pogacar' is breathing with his mouth open.
Jan Hirt is sat on Vansevenant's wheel, with Landa behind him and Pogacar's on the Spaniard's wheel.
13km to go
William Junior Lecerf has given his all and so Hirt takes over on the front.
The speed is high and Esteban Chaves (EF) is the latest rider to be distanced.
Hirt is dancing on the pedals with his jersey open as, that's in marked contrast to Landa, who is sat in the saddle and composed.
Yesterday we saw him attacking in the drops , with s show of pure Landismo as he fought for second place to Pogacar.
Behind Geraint Thomas has been dropped and is chasing in the team cars.
8km to go
Hirt is still hurting the peloton. This is a huge ride.
Landa attacks!
Of course Pogacar goes with him and then surges past him on the 8% of the climb!
Lands is gapped. He tries to get on but he's struggling.
Boom! Pogacar is alone and flying to the finish.
But here comes Kuss!
The American catches Landa with a power surge and seems tempted to go after Pogacar.
The chase group is 200 metres behind and is being shaken out. Quintana is dropped.
6km to go
Pogacar perhaps eased to calibrate his effort but is storming up the climb now.
Landa and Kuss are swapping turns as the gradient eases for a moment but they're already 22 seconds back.
They are, in theory, riding for the podium places today and perhaps for the overall GC.
Pogacar is like a Metronome, setting out a fast pace with a smooth, powerful pedal stroke,
He is above the snow line as he climbs up to Port Ainé.
3km to go
Chris Harper of Jayco has done a superb effort to cross the gap to Landa and Kuss.
Landa is on form and surges again, distancing Harper and Kuss.
2km to go
Landa puts his hands on the drops and stomps on the pedals.
Pogacar is also flying and has opened his gap to 40 seconds. He is definitely from another planet.
We're into the final kilometre of the stage. This is another dominant ride by Pogacar.
Behimd, Enric Mas (Movistar) is chasing after Landa.
Here comes Pogi!
Tadej Pogacar wins the stage, with another solo attack. Yet again nobody was able to match him on the climb to the finish.
The click ticks as Mikel Landa rides in. He finishes second at 48 seconds.
The chasers finish just a1:03 behind Pogacar.
All the strongest riders are there but they've all again lost a minute at least.
🏆 @TamauPogi, guanyador de la tercera etapa a @port_aine!🏔️Tadej Pogačar @TeamEmiratesUAE wins the 3rd stage of Volta a Catalunya!#VoltaCatalunya103 pic.twitter.com/we27Df8H01March 20, 2024
Pogacar smiled and punched the air as he celebrated victory.
There is still snow on the ground near the finish but Pogacar didn't feel the cold today.
The other riders were spread across several minutes, in Pogacar's wake and still suffering as he celebrated victory.
As the finish photos show, Pogacar won alone and in dominate style yet again.
Pogacar made his victory look easy but he insisted it wasn't.
"It definitely wasn’t easy, it’s a really hard climb, also on altitude. I definitely felt cold at the top and not enough oxygen," he said.
There were questions about the UAE team at Milan-San Remo but Pogacar made sure to praise his teammates today.
"Once again a super good stage from the team," he said. "I’m happy to take the in because my teammates worked hard for this win."
Pogacar attacked at the 7km to go point yet again, like he did on Tuesday but it ewas not planned.
"Mikel Landa attacked first and I went over him because I saw that he made a gap," Pogacar explained.
"I was thinking it was maybe too early but I got a good rhythm and then until the last two kilometres I could push good. Then I was a bit stuffed but managed to finish well."
Pogacar pulled on the white leader's jersey again.
His overall lead is now up to 2:27 on Landa and 2:55 on Aleksandr Vlasov.
Pogacar also pulls on the climber's jersey nd the points jersey after his back to back victories.
He's also given a beer for one award but opts not take a long swig.
Pogacar won in the leader's white and green jersey and kept it after extending his overall lead.
To read out full stage report and see our photo gallery of all the action, click the link below.
Volta a Catalunya: Tadej Pogačar does it again on stage 3 summit
The Belgian Classics are also underway. To follow our live coverage of Classic Brugge-De Panne click below.
Classic Brugge-De Panne live - A Classics sprint showdown in Belgium
Thanks for joining our full live coverage of the Volta a Catalunya.
We'll be back on Thursday with full coverage of stage 4 from Sort to Lleida in the south of Catalunya.
It seems a great day for a breakaway or will Pogacar want to win again? Join us for the best live updates.
