Stage 3 of the Tour de Burgos was supposed to partly establish the general classification on Wednesday, heading towards the usual climb of the Lagunas de Neila. Unfortunately, Rémy Rochas was unable to join the fight on the front, the day after his nice fourth place on stage 2. The Groupama-FDJ cycling team is now no longer concerned by the overall, while a time trial and a sprint remain on the menu of the Spanish race.
Only one hundred and thirty-eight kilometres made up the “queen” stage of the Vuelta a Burgos on Wednesday, but two hard climbs awaited the riders in the final: the Alto de Rozavientos, first, then the climb of the Lagunas de Neila. Four riders wanted to anticipate the expected battle between the favourites, namely Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Nicolas Vinokourov (Astana Qazaqstan), Alex Diaz (Caja Rural-Alea) and Germán Darío Gómez (Polti Kometa), who went early on. “It was a pretty straightforward day,” said Thierry Bricaud. “The breakaway formed from the start like the other days, the bunch set a good pace and it almost came down to the final climb.” The tempo still got faster in the most difficult slopes of the Alto de Rozavientos, and the bunch was reduced to around forty men twenty kilometres from the line, while heading towards the foot of the final difficulty. Some riders managed to bridge across in the downhill, but as soon as the road got steeper again, about five kilometers from the line, the pack got smaller.
“Rémy wasn’t feeling the best”, Thierry Bricaud
Then, it completely exploded two kilometers further on, when the slopes exceeded 10%. That’s about where Rémy Rochas was dropped. “The guys worked well on the penultimate climb to position Rémy, but unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling the best today”, explained Thierry. “I don’t know if it’s because of the heat, but he didn’t have the legs today, and the result is a consequence. He was feeling good yesterday, he wasn’t today, and you pay for it straight away on such a finish.” Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) eventually dominated the battle between the favourites and took the lead in the general classification, which is no longer an objective for the Groupama-FDJ cycling team. “Tomorrow is a time trial, and the guys will do it properly, because it is part of the preparation for what comes next,” concluded Thierry. “Then, on the last stage, we will try to get a good result with Matt in a finish that could suit him.”
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