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The city of Malaga was the scene for the first sprint finish of this year’s edition of La Vuelta, with Peter Sagan (Tinkoff – Saxo) reigning supreme once again on Spanish spoil.
The riders, 193 of them in fact after Marcus Burghardt (BMC) failed to start today in the town of Mijas would have been hoping for some fairly uncomplicated and non stressful racing after the chaos in the final 30 kilometres of yesterday’s stage.
The opening 15 kilometres of the stage saw the breakaway of the day establish itself, with the eight man group including the likes of Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling), Maarten Tjallingii (LottoNL-Jumbo), Walter Pedraza (Team Colombia), Martin Velits (Etixx-Quick Step), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R – La Mondiale), Omar Fraile (Caja Rural), Natnael Berhane (MTN-Qhubeka) and Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida).
Also within the first parts of the race was the first of two King of the Mountains sprints on the stage, with the riders facing the category three climb of the Alto de Mijas. Over the top of the climb, it was Oscar Fraile who crested the top first, with Sylvain Chavanel in second, and talented climber Nathanel Berhane in third.
The riders then descended back onto flat roads as they then set themselves up for the most difficult part of today’s stage, the category one climb of the Puerto del Leon, which was covered after 76 kilometres of racing. The 16 kilometre climb saw no real attacks, and the leaders crested the climb with just under a three minute lead.
Oscar Fraile once again took maximum points at the top of the climb, with Walter Pedraza in second, and Sylvain Chanvanel in third. At this point, the gap between them and the peloton was just under three minutes, with Orica GreenEDGE martialling the gap well in support of overall leader Esteban Chaves.
After this point, there were considerable attacks in the front group, where only two riders were able to get away, however this was after the only intermediate sprint point on the day in Torre del Mar, where Chavanel this time was first, with Tjallingi and Gougeard in third.
The later of these two would find themselves off the front with over a minute still with 20 kilometres to go as the riders started to head back to the lumpy roads heading into Malaga.
However, as the riders started to hit false flat with 15 kilometres to go, the peloton led by both Giant and Tinkoff reeled back the break to set up for the sprint finish.
There were no real late attacks, and with that Giant – Alpecin perfectly lead-out John Degenkolb, but the German could not reach top gear today, and was beaten by Sagan and a fast finishing bruised and battered Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).
It was an extremely important win for Sagan, getting his first grand tour win after over 2 years of close finishes, whilst Esteban Chavez holds his lead on the general classification.
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Stage 3 provides the first real chance for a sprint finish in the Vuelta a Espana. Join The Roar’s live coverage of Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana from 11:45pm (AEST).
Once again, the Vuelta offers up a stage full of lumps and bumps for the sprinters to try and get over.
The riders leave the town of Mijas, and travel only eight kilometres before they reach the start of the first of two categorised climbs.
The first two kilometres of the Alto de Mijas are fairly simple, but the last four kilometres are at around eight percent. Expect the riders to be on the rollers before the start of today’s stage, especially those looking for the breakaway.
The riders then travel 40 kilometres to the city of Malaga, then take on the day’s major difficulty – the category one Puerto del Leon.
The climb is a brute so early on in the race, with the 16 kilometre ascent averaging out at five and a half percent, and ramps that hit over 15 per cent.
With the climb being completed just before the halfway mark of the race, it may be decisive, depending on who is in the break, and whether the sprinters really want to target today’s stage.
With 37 kilometres to go, the peloton enter the town of Torre del Mar, where the only intermediate sprint on today’s course is located.
A few lumpy sections of road in the final 10 kilometres will provide the final launching pad for any attacks before a reduced group sprint in Malaga.
Punchy sprinters such as John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin), Caleb Ewan or Darryl Impey (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Carlos Barbero (Caja Rural) should be there to contest the win, but there is also the potential that the field will go conservative over the Puerto del Leon, allowing a pure sprinter such as Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) to be in with a shout.
Ultimately, this will come down to who wants to do the work. Will it be a sprint team like Giant, or are will a general classification favourite, like Astana, put early pressure on the race.
For an early break to stay away, the riders will need to have lost considerable time on yesterday’s stage. However, if a late attack was to stay away, look at Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R La Mondiale), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Soudal), or Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) to try and get a late gap on the field.
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