Vuelta a Burgos: Primoz Roglic leads overall after winning stage 3
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Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) moved into the overall lead of the Vuelta a Burgos after winning stage 3 in a sprint of four in Villarcayo. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) took second ahead of Adam Yates (UAE) and Damien Howson (Q36.5).
The winning move came on the demanding climb of Picón Blanco, where Yates’ Emirates UAE team took the pace and managed to isolate Roglič from his Jumbo-Visma teammates, but the Slovenian looked as relentless as ever despite the efforts their.
Jumbo-Visma had taken the reins at the head of the pack at the base of the climb in defense of Roglič and overnight leader Attila Valter, but the yellow-and-black jerseys soon melted away from the front of the race as Emirates of the UAE dictated. the terms.
At one point at the top of the climb, Roglič had only the UAE trio of Yates, Jay Vine and George Bennett for company, but he never appeared unduly troubled by their forced climb.
Behind, the race was fragmented, with Vlasov, Howson and Einer Rubio (Movistar) the hardiest of riders trying to keep pace with Yates, Roglič et al.
Only Roglič and Howson could follow when Yates accelerated near the summit with 35km to race, and were later joined on the long descent by Vlasov. Vine was also chasing with Vlasov, but the Australian’s hopes ended with a crash on the descent.
Although Vine came back and joined another chasing group with Bennett, Rubio and Javier Romo (Astana-Kazakhstan), the Australian eventually had to drop in the final.
Up front, Yates won the bonus sprint with 9km to go ahead of Vlasov and Roglič as they built an advantage of more than a minute over their pursuers. The short climb of the Alto de Bocos with 7km offered a springboard for late attacks, but the gradient was perhaps not steep enough to break up the front group, and Roglič was more than content to control the pace from the front and wait. its time for a four-man sprint.
As the quartet reached the home stretch, Yates opened his effort from a distance but Roglič calmly chased him down to take his 10th win of the season and set another marker ahead of the Vuelta a España, where he will be joined by Jonas Vingegaard as he chases his fourth overall victory.
“You never really know how it ends,” Roglič said of his victory here. “There was already a lot of work when I was with the best in the climb, but you have to get it done. It was a hot day, tough, but our team did a great job from the start controlling it. It was fun, I’m really happy about it.”
While the hors Picón Blanco category – scene of Rein Taaramae’s 2021 Vuelta a España victory – was the center of the stage, the series of category 3 climbs early in the day offered room for the breakaway.
Matteo Fabbro, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jaakko Hanninen (AG2R Citroen), Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH), Raul Garcia Pierna (Kern Pharma), Xabier Berasategi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Mattia Bais (Eolo-Kometa) and Filippo Conca (Q36.5) was duly hammered but Jumbo-Visma’s chase meant they hit the base of Picon Blanco with less than a minute in hand on the bunch.
García Pierna proved to be the strongest of the breakaways on the day’s main climb, but was pinned down by the elite lead group once the UAE had started to turn the screw. By then, the purple jersey Valter and Roglič’s main lieutenant, Jan Tratnik, had distanced themselves and the numerical advantage lay with the UAE.
Roglis, however, held on steadily and then took the stage win to move into a commanding position at the top of the general classification, 34 seconds clear of Vlasov and 40 ahead of Yates. Howson, Rubio and Bennett are the only other riders with a two-minute lead with two days remaining.
The Slovenian has a 100% record in stage races so far this year, winning Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta a Catalunya and Giro d’Italia. He seems destined to add the Vuelta a Burgos to that list, even if Roglič was as reserved as ever after the podium ceremony. “Day by day, huh,” he smiled.
Results
The results are supported by FirstCycling
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