February 21, 2026
If yesterday's stage to Lopera resulted in a bunch sprint, today's easier parcours should be more of a sure thing. The route is very similar if not identical to Stage 3 of last year's race. Shortly out of the start in Montoro is the 8KM Alto de Españares through the Parque Natural Sierra de Cardeña y Montoro. The average is just 3.6% but there are a few steeper sections in the middle. Once on top, the riders will remain up on a plateau between 600-800M above sea level for the rest of the stage. There is an intermediate sprint in Vallaneuva de Cordoba before the race enters a circuit with 58KM to go for one and a half laps. The bunch will pass through the finish line in Pozoblanco for the second intermediate sprint with 32KM to go. The full lap of the circuit is generally on open and exposed roads. To make matters complicated for sprint teams, there is a Golden Kilometer sprint with 14.5KM to go which will likely draw out the GC contenders or their teammates. The last 2KM are dead straight and the finish can be seen from a long way out with the last kilometer dragging up all the way to the line. Alexander Kristoff won the stage last year after a patient but powerful sprint and that is what it will take to be the winner this time around.
Race Summary
With the rain throughout Andalusia this Winter, the region has emerged into Spring much more green and lush than in a typical year. Temperatures were in the low 20's C (low 70's F) and looked like a perfect day to be out on a bike. Three riders made the break including Nil Gimeno of Equipo Kern Pharma, Luca Cretti of MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort, Geoffrey Bouchard of TotalEnergies. They were kept on a tight leash for most of the day and, with 65KM to go, their lead was 90 seconds. Cofidis and Groupama-FDJ United were riding in the peloton with Uno-X Mobility also interested in a sprint.
The break reached the area where the Golden Kilometer will be on the next lap and passed through Dos Torres with a nice crowd cheering the riders on. With 42KM to go, Gimeno suffered a flat tire. Team cars had been pulled out of the gap so he was reliant on neutral service but the gap was down to 50 seconds. They couldn't get the change done before he was swarmed by the peloton. Groupama-FDJ United had the two leaders at 25 seconds when they crossed the finish line for first time in Pozoblanco.
Cretti and Bouchard gave a fist bump as they were caught with 26KM to go with the bunch thinking about the Golden Kilometer down the road. Groupama-FDJ United got company at the front of the peloton as teams like UAE-XRG, Uno-X Mobility, and Pinarello Q36.5 were marking their territory. Flanders-Baloise got into the action as well and the speed was pushing above 60KM/HR. The three sprints of the Golden Kilometer were chaotic but after the third, the breakdown of the bonus were as follows:
Romain Grégoire of Groupama-FDJ United - 5 seconds
Jon Barrenetxea of Movistar and Sven Erik Bystrøm of Uno-X Mobility - 3 seconds
Tom Pidcock of Q36.5, Johannes Kulset and Torstein Træen of Uno-X Mobility - 2 seconds
Fred Wright of Q36.5 - 1 second
A number of teams burned through resources to fight for the Golden Kilometer. One team that ignored the sprints were Visma-Lease a Bike who immediately came to the front to make sure there were no counter attacks. Giosuè Epis of Petrolike and Marcin Budziński MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort took a flyer together with 10KM to go. They dangled 100M ahead of the bunch for 2.5KM and were brought back. Through the small twisting streets of Añora with 6.5KM to go, Pavel Sivakov of UAE-XRG let the wheel go to Tim Wellens. Wellens attacked and was followed by Christophe Laporte of Visma-Lease a Bike and Budziński once again. Budziński wasn't able to initially contribute but the trio were gaining ground. Budziński started to pull but through 3KM to go, Cofidis had organized well and brought everything back together.
Uno-X Mobility and Visma-Lease a Bike regained control and formed dualling trains through 1,500M to go. The road was dragging up and sitting in the wheels had maximum benefit. Visma Lease a Bike won the battle and launched Axel Zingle with 275M to go. Groupama-FDJ United were going at the same time on the right side of the road but it would ultimately prove to have been too long for them and Zingle. Behind Zingle was Søren Wærenskjold of Uno-X Mobility and Tom Crabbe of Flanders-Baloise. Crabbe found a seam between the barriers and Wærenskjold and he went through. Zingle also left a small gap open on his left which allowed Crabbe to sneak through. When the Belgian hit fresh air, he accelerated and hit the line first for the second time this year. Wærenskjold got on Crabbe's wheel and came home in second ahead of Sandy Dujardin of TotalEnergies.
The Golden Kilometer jostled positions from third to tenth but only by a handful of seconds. Romain Grégoire now has control of third overall at 49 seconds with the others who picked up bonus seconds stacked up behind. Iván Romeo still holds 7 seconds on Andreas Leknessund and now 49 seconds on Grégoire with one potential explosive stage remaining.