Vuelta 2024: Van Aert cements lead with sprint triumph

foto: Cor VosThe last stage in Portugal comes down to a bunch sprint. Red jersey Wout van Aert powers to victory to extend his lead in the GC. The Flemish powerhouse outguns Kaden Groves and Jon Aberasturi. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 3rd stage 2024 Vuelta

1. Wout van Aert (bel)
2. Kaden Groves (aus) s.t.
3. Jon Aberasturi (spa) s.t.
4. Arne Marit (bel) s.t.
5. Pavel Bittner (cze) s.t.
6. Corbin Strong (nzl) s.t.
7. Arjen Livyns (bel) s.t.
8. Bryan Coquard (fra) s.t.
9. Antonio Jesús Soto (spa) s.t.
10. Carlos Canal (spa) s.t.

GC after stage 3
1. Wout van Aert (bel)
2. Brandon McNulty (usa) + 0.13
3. Mathias Vacek (cze) + 0.15
4. Stefan Küng (swi) + 0.19
5. Edoardo Affini (ita) + 0.21
6. Mauro Schmid (swi) + 0.29
7. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 0.30
8. Bruno Armirail (fra) + 0.31
9. João Almeida (por) + 0.32
10. Nelson Oliviera (por) + 0.33

Race report
Ibon Ruiz, Luis Ángel Maté, Unai Iribar, and Xabier Isasa attack from the gun. The quartet races to a 2 minutes lead on no time. Then Stefan Küng, Victor Campenaerts, and Kasper Asgreen try to jump across, but the peloton does not agree. After that, the four attackers continue to pull away from the peloton, reaching a maximum advantage of over 5 minutes.

Maté wins the KOM sprint at both the Alto de Teixeira Alto de Alpedrinha, and he moves into the polka dot jersey.

Isasa goes solo inside the final 40 kilometres before he is caught 20 kilometres later.

Wout van Aert stays in Kaden Groves’ wheel until the final 200 metres, and then he powers to a commanding victory. He thus cements his lead in the general classification.

Another interesting read: route 3rd stage 2024 Vuelta a España.