Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2020 – Stage 3 [LAST 30 KM]

February 21, 2020

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2020 – Stage 3 – Jáen – Ubeda : 176,9 km

Who said early season races were ‘preparation races’? The 66th edition of the Vuelta a Andalucía, or Ruta del Sol, looks set to be one of the hardest of recent history, with three out of the five stages heading deep into the mountains of southern Spain, a difficult final time trial, and only one, unlikely, opportunity for a bunch sprint. Spain’s most venerable early season stage race – albeit with various gaps and changes of name, Andalucía began way back in 1925 – used to be an event where sprinters and Classics specialists would sometimes find they had as much of a chance of winning as the mountain men.

Race leader Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) has strengthened his overall lead in the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol and further increased his prospects of taking a second straight title after he outpowered a small group of favourites in a chaotic finale on stage 3.

In a fraught, constantly undulating, last kilometre, with riders already close to exhaustion by the hardest mountain stage of this year’s race, two of Fuglsang’s key rivals, Dylan Teuns (Bahrain McLaren) and Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) managed to gain a tiny gap on the Dane, who seemed to be flagging.

But on a sharp righthand bend some 50 metres from the finish – the last corner of the day – both Teuns and Haig abruptly, and for reasons yet to be fully established, went straight on and off-course, down the race vehicles’ diversion lane.

Before the two could wheel round again, Fugslang – following close behind but not taking the same line – was perfectly placed to storm past and across the finish line a little further on, his arms raised in triumph.

Although visibly ruing the chance for a prestigious stage win, overall Haig and Teuns only lost a handful of seconds as a result of their mishap, and the two may yet turn the tables on Fuglsang on the toughest single climb of the race, the brutally difficult first category Alto del Purche on Saturday.

But for now, the Dane’s victory has enabled Fuglsang to draw slightly clearer at the head of a still-closely packed top end of the GC, pushing his overall advantage out to 14 seconds on Mikel Landa (Bahrain Mclaren) and 30 seconds on Landa’s teammate Pello Bilbao.

How it unfolded

Fuglsang’s victory rounded off what had been a very tough day for the entire peloton, with five classifed ascents – two of them first category – and over 3,000 metres of vertical climbing through the never-ending olive groves of Andalucia’s most northeasterly province of Jaén.

The peloton split in three almost as soon as the start flag had dropped, and when a lead group of 44 sheered off the front, it was clear Astana would have their work cut out. The lead group then morphed into a much smaller but still dangerous break of 10 riders, including GC contender Andrey Zeits (Mitchelton-Scott), Movistar co-leader Luis Más, and no less than three riders from Alpecin-Fenix: Floris de Tier, Louis Vervaeke and Jimmy Janssens.

Whether on team orders or for another reason, Zeits dropped out of the running, whilst despite the hefty mountain challenges, the blue jerseys of Astana and Fugslang’s bright yellow leader’s maillot were able to keep a commendably tight rein on affairs in the chasing peloton.

Astana were canny or lucky enough to let the break reach the smoothly rising second category drag that formed the final classified climb of the day, with a good 90 second margin to spare – barely enough to stay away, but sufficient to discourage too many counter-attacks. Then despite Mas’ best efforts, by the time the race reached the summit of the broad highway through the city of Baeza the bunch had the stage leaders clearly in their sights.

A blisteringly fast descent towards the Renaissance city of Ubeda then took the race into its technical, switchback finale, culminating with a paved rise through painfully narrow, twisting streets. Once Mas and co were definitively reeled in, Landa began a long, driving acceleration that set things up nicely for Teuns to come over the top and – briefly – seem to put Fugslang into difficulties. But a treacherous right-hand bend put paid to Teuns’ chances on a stage win, and indirectly left Fuglsang in control of Andalucia for at least another day.

Saturday’s much shorter mountain stage, rolling through the foothills of Sierra Nevada before a repeat of the 2019 ascent of Purche and blisteringly fast drop back to the finish town of Granada, could well see Fuglsang under more sustained attacks.

Sandwiched between Fuglsang and teammate Ion Izagirre (Astana Pro Team) there are no less than three Bahrain McLaren riders in second to fourth overall – Landa, Teuns and Bilbao – while Haig, in fifth, will also be keen to give Fuglsang a run for his money. And with only two stages remaining, they will have to take whatever chances they can to topple Fuglsang.

Results :
1 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 4:33:25
2 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
3 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:01
4 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:04
5 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:06
6 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:08
7 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
9 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:13
10 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:26
11 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
12 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
13 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
14 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Mitchelton-Scott
15 Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
16 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
17 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Riwal Readynez 0:00:30
18 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
19 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
20 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Fenix-Alpecin
21 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
22 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
23 Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
24 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
25 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
26 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
27 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team
28 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Fenix-Alpecin
29 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
30 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:00:51
31 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Kern Pharma
32 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
33 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
34 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Mitchelton-Scott
35 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
36 Juan Felipe Osorio Arboleda (Col) Burgos-BH
37 David De la Cruz Melgarejo (Spa) UAE Team Emirates
38 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
39 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
40 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Burgos-BH
41 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
42 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
43 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
44 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH
45 Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Kern Pharma
46 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez
47 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Kern Pharma
48 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos-BH
49 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
50 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:58
51 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:20
52 Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:01:30
53 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale 0:01:35
54 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie 0:01:37
55 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Kern Pharma
56 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
57 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
58 Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
59 Pablo Bonilla (Spa) Burgos-BH
60 Jon Agirre Egaña (Spa) Kern Pharma
61 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:01:52
62 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:25
63 Taco Van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:46
64 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:02:47
65 Floris De Tier (Bel) Fenix-Alpecin 0:02:49
66 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
67 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:02:55
68 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:02:58
69 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
70 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
71 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:59
72 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
73 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:03:16
74 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
75 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:03:27
76 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:03:30
77 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez 0:03:34
78 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Fenix-Alpecin 0:03:39
79 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:04:01
80 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
81 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:04:06
82 Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:04:14
83 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:04:18
84 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:20
85 James Shaw (GBr) Riwal Readynez 0:04:23
86 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:04:26
87 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
88 Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:30
89 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:05:05
90 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:05:07
91 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
92 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain McLaren
93 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:05:12
94 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
95 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea 0:05:19
96 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
97 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:05:22
98 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:05:27
99 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:44
100 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
101 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:06:16
102 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
103 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:06:28
104 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:07:35
105 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Fenix-Alpecin
106 Jokin Aranburu Arruti (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
107 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Fenix-Alpecin
108 Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Lotto Soudal 0:08:14
109 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:09:16
110 Julien Mortier (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:10:08
111 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:10:12
112 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
113 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
114 Florian Vachon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
115 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team 0:11:16
116 Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) Riwal Readynez 0:12:44
117 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:12:53
118 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
119 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:13:49
120 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
121 Franklin Six (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
122 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:14:18
123 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
124 Anton Kuzmin (Kaz) Gazprom-Rusvelo
125 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:14:19
126 Juan Jose Lobato del Valle (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea 0:14:57
127 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:15:44
128 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
129 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:23:15
130 Carmelo Urbano Fontiveros (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
131 Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
132 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:26:48
DNF Kris Boeckmans (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
DNF Martijn Budding (Ned) Riwal Readynez
DNF Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Fenix-Alpecin

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 14:22:26
2 Mikel Landa (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:04
3 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:30
4 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:31
5 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:34
6 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:35
7 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:23
8 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:27
9 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea 0:01:36
10 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal