Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2025 Stage 3

February 7, 2025 Another 3,000M vertical gain day could see gaps in GC but the final 18KM are rolling on a plateau so tactical games could decide the winner. The race left Algemesí, the site of terrible flooding in the winter. It would be a gorgeous day however, with the route going through groves of pink Almond blossoms under clear blue skies. Six riders made the break including Francisco Muñoz of Polti-VisitMalta, Matteo Scalco of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, Unai Iribar of Equipo Kern Pharma, Walter Calzoni of Q36.5, Filippo Ridolfo of Novo Nordisk, and Jose Juan Prieto of Petrolike. Their lead was 1 minute 40 seconds with 40KM to go to a peloton being led by Bahrain Victorious. The front of the peloton started to get busy with 32KM to go in preparation for the Category 1 climb to El Remedio which has 3 bonus seconds on offer at the top. UAE-XRG started to ride from the bottom and caught the break with 27.2KM to go. Jefferson Cepeda of Movistar went on the attack with 3KM to climb but Brandon McNulty of UAE-XRG was setting the pace and kept Cepeda in sight. Cepeda was caught 500M from the top and Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain Victorious counter attacked in a bid to grab the bonus but João Almeida of UAE-XRG was right on the wheel. Almeida nipped Buitrago in the sprint but the pair worked well over the top on the plateau with a gap of nearly 20 seconds to the group which was reduced to around 15 riders. They were caught with just over 17KM to go and the game turned tactical. The group slowed way down and Iván Romeo of Movistar took a prime attacking opportunity. Tobias Foss of Ineos, Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious, and McNulty committed to pulling but Romeo was still holding 14 seconds. McNulty was left alone to chase after Foss and Martinez stopped working and the gap only expanded. Romeo had 27 seconds as he hit the uphill ramp under 1KM to go. He had energy left to hold on for his first professional victory after being crowned the U23 World ITT Champion last fall in Zurich. 10 seconds later, Buitrago crossed the line to win the sprint for second with Almeida in third. Almeida now takes over the race lead but only by 2 seconds to Buitrago and 21 to Pello Bilbao of Bahrain Victorious.