The riders reach the foot of the 3rd stage’s hardest ascent as soon as kilometre 25.5. The Puerto del Madroña is a 20.1 kilometres long climb with its slope at around 5%. The route takes in more uphills, but since pure sprinters rarely appear on La Vuelta we should expect the fast men to survive. With 30 kilometres remaining the riders leave the last positive slopes behind before the finale offers a mix of downhill stretches, false flat, and level ground.
The last 4.1 kilometres are a long straight to line. A 500 metres uphill section at 5% stands out with 3.5 kilometres to go, but the long straight is mainly an uphill false flat before a downhill false flat runs to the last kilometre on level ground.
Favourites 3rd stage 2018 Vuelta a España
*** Peter Sagan, Danny van Poppel, Matteo Trentin
** Elia Viviani, Ryan Gibbons, Nacer Bouhanni, Tosh Van der Sande
* Alejandro Valverde, Michal Kwiatkowski, Tony Gallopin, Fabio Felline
Vuelta a España 2018 stage 3: Route maps, height profiles, and more
Click on the images to zoom
Related articles Riders - Vuelta 20 Withdrawals - Vuelta 20 Favourites - Vuelta 20 GC Favourites - Vuelta 20 More articles Enter Tour of Flanders pool with €6,500 in prize money
Tour of Flanders 2023: The Route
Tour of Flanders 2023: Riders
Tour of Flanders 2023: Favourites
Tour of Flanders: Winners and records
Heroes of the Tour of Flanders
Tour of Flanders 2023 - women: The Route
Tour of Flanders 2023 - women: Riders
Tour of the Basque Country 2023: The Route
Tour of the Basque Country 2023: Riders
Tour of the Basque Country 2023: GC Favourites
Tour of the Basque Country 2023 Route stage 1: Vitoria-Gasteiz - Labastida
Tour of the Basque Country 2023 Route stage 2: Viana - Leitza
Tour of the Basque Country 2023 Route stage 3: Errenteria - Villabona
Tour of the Basque Country 2023 Route stage 4: Santurtzi - Santurtzi
Tour of the Basque Country 2023 Route stage 6: Eibar - Eibar
Paris - Roubaix 2023: The Route
Paris - Roubaix 2023: Riders
Tour de France 2023: The Route
Tour de France 2023: Riders
Cycling Calendar 2023
Vuelta 2023: The Route
Vuelta 2023: Riders
Giro 2023: The Route
Giro 2023: Riders
Giro 2023 Route stage 1: Fossacesia - Ortona
Giro 2023 Route stage 2: Teramo - San Salvo
Giro 2023 Route stage 3: Vasto - Melfi
Giro 2023 Route stage 4: Venosa - Lago Laceno
Giro 2023 Route stage 5: Atripalda - Salerno