The third day was already going to be tough for the first time, as far as the overall classification was concerned. It was not due to the total number of meters climbed: 2716 on 171 km, but their distribution. The first 100 km were only slightly undulating. Then we drove 13 km uphill with an average of 4.2%. But that was due to the unevenness of the climb. The first three kilometers and then the next three from the sixth kilometer had a gradient between 6-7%. A descent longer than the ascent was followed by a flat section before the finale. This took the form of a 7.6 km long target climb with an average gradient of 7.5%, but in the middle and then at the very end it exceeded 10%.
Some interesting names dropped out of the overall standings in the previous stage: Lutsenko (Astana) did not finish the race due to illness, Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) arrived with a loss of +1:19, Lemmen (Visma-LaB) +7:14, Higuita (BORA-hansgrohe ) and Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) +10:43 and McNulty (UAE Emirates) +17:11.
Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Roger Adriá (BORA-hansgrohe), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Sean Flynn (dsm-firmenich PostNL) got into the daily escape after less than twenty kilometers ). A few kilometers further on, Nikias Arndt (Bahrain-Victorious) and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Q36.5) pulled ahead. After 50 km they got up to 6 minutes. Then their lead slowly began to decline.
The initial climbing premium with a peak of 1430 meters above sea level, an ascent on a dry road, but in a perceptible coldness lined with snow, was completed by both the refugees and the peloton at a steady pace. It was won by Andrea Vendrame, but with 10 points he could not yet threaten Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck), riding in the jersey of the best climber (31 points).
On the approach to the finish hill, the refugees still had a relatively very good lead, approaching 3 minutes. Two important things happened during it. The front group was down to three people: Vendrame, Nys and Meurisse. And 3 km before the finish, Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) accelerated from the main large group, for whom Simon Yates paved the way. Only Florian Lipowitz (BORA-hansgrohe) left with the Australian champion and they reached the leading three 1.5 km before the finish line.
Plapp sped past them to break them, but the two couldn’t. The Australians didn’t change, they hung on, resisted his entry into the 300 and finally shared it by a stage. Fifty meters before the tape, Thibau Nys passed Andrea Vendrame and condemned him to second place for the second time in a row.
The group of favorites lost 16 seconds. The 21-year-old son of the famous father has achieved his biggest victory to date and is also wearing yellow.
“To some people it might seem like an ordinary victory, but I worked very hard for it. After Wednesday’s ride I was very disappointed because I couldn’t show my good legs. In today’s ride we planned to go for the breakaway if he was strong enough . I actually arranged the escape myself and it was at the perfect moment. My colleagues were very strong boys.” Nys said after the stage in a flash interview. “It was strange because it was my first time in a daybreak and I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know the last climb and I didn’t know anything about the final kilometer either. I have to thank my team because they are leading me fantastically.”
Josef Černý scored a loss +11:18, Pavel Bittner +13:03.
Tags: days escape men won overtaken Thibau Nys outsprinted Andrea Vendrame tackled Luke Plapp
