Nairo Quintana (Movistar) won stage 3 of this year’s Vuelta a Burgos today, in a summit finish atop the final climb of the Lagunas de Neila.
Team Movistar spent most of the day working hard in support of their leader, who claimed the stage in ahead of Dani Moreno (Katusha) and Mikel Landa (Astana).
As a result, Quintana now leads Moreno by one second in the general classification, while David Arroyo (Caja Rural) is 37 seconds back in third spot.
Race Highlights
As the peloton tackled the final climbs of the day, Movistar led a small group at the front of the race, with Quintana safely nestled amongst his teammates.
Once the group crested the category 1 climb of the Pasil De Rozavientos, the pace began to increase dramatically on the descent – with riders reaching speeds of more than 80 kph along the narrow and twisting road.
With 9 kilometers remaining, Movistar continued to set the pace on the next climb of the Alto Del Collado.
The ascent of the Alto Del Collado was followed by another quick descent, before riders tackled the final climb to the summit finish atop the Lagunas de Neila.
Despite a flurry of attacks on the climb, Quintana managed to maintain his composure, until the final section of the climb, where the Colombian succeeded in further closing the gap between himself and the lead trio of riders ahead.
From there, attacks within the lead group, eventually led to just Landa being out front alone. And, with less than a kilometer remaining, Quintana ultimately caught and past Landa – subsequently riding to a solo finish.
Stage 3 Results COL 1 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) 4:27:34 ESP 2 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) + 6 ESP 3 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) + 10 ESP 4 ARROYO DURAN, David (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) + 19 SLO 5 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 35 ITA 6 TIRALONGO, Paolo (ASTANA) + 41 ITA 7 RABOTTINI, Matteo (NERI SOTTOLI) + 46 ITA 8 AGNOLI, Valerio (ASTANA) + 48 ESP 9 BILBAO, Peio (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) + 58 ESP 10 PARDILLA BELLON, Sergio (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 1:07
General Classification after Stage 3 COL 1 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) 11:30:59 ESP 2 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) + 1 ESP 3 ARROYO DURAN, David (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) + 37 SLO 4 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 46 ITA 5 AGNOLI, Valerio (ASTANA) + 52 ITA 6 TIRALONGO, Paolo (ASTANA) + 59 ITA 7 RABOTTINI, Matteo (NERI SOTTOLI) + 1:04 ESP 8 BILBAO, Peio (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) + 1:09 ESP 9 PARDILLA BELLON, Sergio (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 1:13 NED 10 OLIVIER, Daan (GIANT-SHIMANO) + 1:34
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