Dutch Marianne Vos, second the day before on the line, won the third stage of the Women’s Tour of Spain in a sprint on Wednesday at La Roda ahead of her compatriot Charlotte Kool, who had taken the stage from her on Tuesday.
Thanks to this success combined with the intermediate sprint placed 21 kilometers from the finish which she also won, the 35-year-old Jumbo-Visma rider consolidates her place as leader in the general classification, thirteen seconds ahead of the American Chloé Dygert. , third Wednesday, as the day before.
His team thus hoisted its colors high within the top 5 of the general classification, with four riders represented (only Dygert, a member of Canyon, is not part of it). The longest stage of this women’s Tour of Spain, with its 157.8 kilometres, was covered at a breakneck pace by the riders: with an average speed of 45.6 km/h for Vos, this stage automatically became the fastest in the history of the Spanish loop for women.
The beginning of the afternoon was punctuated by a few unsuccessful breakaway attempts, then the peloton broke up into several small groups due to the wind and the edges. The favorites for the final classification and the first overall, however, all managed to stay in the first group for the final packing.
On Thursday, the peloton will take the road between Cuenca and Guadalajara, east of Madrid, for a slightly hilly and 133.1 kilometer long stage. The climb to the Col de Horche (3rd category), placed a dozen kilometers from the line, could act as a justice of the peace in the final.