What a class: Marianne Vos tolerates no opposition from anyone in the third stage of the Vuelta Femenina bunch sprint

Marianne Vos won the third stage in the Vuelta Femenina on Tuesday afternoon. The 36-year-old Dutch woman from Visma | Lease a Bike was the fastest in a bunch sprint after 130.2 kilometers between Lucena del Cid and Teruel. Hungarian champion Blanka Kata Vas (SD Worx-ProTime) retained her red leader’s jersey.

In principle, the third stage could go in several directions. The ride was tougher than the second stage, with more elevation gain. However, that inspired very few riders to launch an early escape attempt. Only home rider Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) took action and attacked solo for the entire stage.

The only official climb of the day, the Alto Fuente de Rubielos (5.9 kilometers at 6.4 percent) was halfway through the race and caused some excitement. The pace was increased considerably and fast riders, such as stage winner Alison Jackson (EF Education-EasyPost) or Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) had difficulty catching up. After that the vertical meters were not finished yet. It undulated and rolled on to the finish town of Teruel. Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez), the winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, also went alone to find the soloist at the front, who was more than four minutes ahead. Because of that big lead, the 31-year-old Australian quickly realized the futility of her venture and allowed herself to be caught up again.

Read more below https://twitter.com/Eurosport_NL/status/1785310520070881362.

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Spanish soloist stranded in the last ten kilometers, Vos wins by force majeure

The increase in pace ensured that the peloton was able to close its gap by a minute, but there was no organized pursuit. Both Dutch champion Demi Vollering and European champion Mischa Bredewold accelerated, albeit without success. Visma | Lease a Bike took Marianne Vos’ peloton in tow and spotted Benito in the last ten kilometers. DSM company PostNL also contributed in support of Charlotte Kool and in Teruel the sprinters who could cross a mountain were able to battle it out.

Just like yesterday, it was again licking wounds in the final phase. Thalita De Jong of Lotto-Dstny slid hard against the asphalt and had to recover, so only a small group remained. In the last ascending kilometer, Riejanne Markus rolled out the red carpet for Vos, who was ideally placed with some positioning. In the sprint itself there was simply no match for the experienced Dutchman.

On Wednesday the sprinters will get another chance in a stage that is almost entirely on a downward slope. The riders descend almost a thousand (!) meters in the fourth stage, with a few small hops along the way. There are no serious climbs along the way, so this is an ideal opportunity for fast riders in the peloton. Good chance that we will get another battle between Marianne Vos and Charlotte Kool!

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