March 25, 2026
The sprinters have had to work but they have taken the first two stages so far this week. There is a possibility today that they could make it three out of three but everything has to go their way. Starting in Mont-roig Del Camp, the first 34 kilometers are all uphill, 10 of which are on the category one climb of Alt de la Mussara in the Muntanyas de Prades. There are five more climbs on course, all between 2-6 kilometers long at 3-6%. The final climb of the day is the Coll Roig, a 6 kilometer climb at 4.5% and crests 45KM from the finish. If the sprinters can survive the relentless climbing in the first two-thirds of the stage and be within touching distance of the front group, they may be able to get back in contact on the long downhill/flat run into the finish in Vila-seca.
Race Summary
A strong group of familiar faces got away early on a blustery day in Catalunya. The group consisted of Reuben Thompson and Baptiste Veistroffer of Lotto Intermarché, Diego Uriarte of Equipo Kern Pharma, Yago Aguirre of Euskatel-Euskadi, Josh Burnett of Burgos-Burpellet BH, and Mark Stewart of Modern Adventure. The peloton never gave them much of an advantage and with 72 kilometers to go, Uno-X Mobility were riding on the front at just 45 seconds with Ineos queued up behind. On the second climb after the Cornudella de Montsant intermediate sprint, Equipo Kern Pharm attacked out of the peloton with two Groupama-FDJ United riders for company. Ineos stitched it back together but many at the back of the peloton were struggling to stay connected.
The bunch settled down as they crested the little peak but just as the road started to tip downwards, a touch of wheels in the middle of the peloton brought down around 10 riders. The highest profile of all was Jay Vine of UAE-XRG who was making a return to racing in Catalunya after a broken wrist back in January in Australia. Vine abandoned which was a blow to UAE-XRG and João Almeida's chances overall. As a result of the crash, the front of the bunch sat up to allow riders held up from the crash to return. The gap went out to 1 minute 10 seconds but the tension increased once more in the peloton as teams organized in color order leading into the town of Falset.
Visma-Lease a Bike, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, and Jayco AlUla took up positions at the front at the start of the Coll Roig at 48 kilometers to go. The climb was ridden hard with Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe setting a quick pace over the top at 44 kilometers to go, just 30 seconds behind the break.
When the bunch reached the bottom of the descent, the landscape opened in front of them and the wide highway was exposed to the wind. The peloton split with around 50 riders at the front with Almeida and Felix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM stuck in the second group. The break were brought back as Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a bike were drilling it on the front to widen the gap. Remco Evenepoel of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe saw an opportunity and rode off the front by pure power and will. Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike smelled trouble and was able to jump across. Evenepoel put his head down and rode for the next few kilometers on the front. Vingegaard initially refused to take a pull but perhaps it more because he couldn't because a few kilometers later, the pair started to relay turns. With 23.5 kilometers to go, the first peloton was at 20 seconds and the Almeida group was just a few seconds further back.
When the Almeida group joined the rest of the peloton, the pace went out momentarily as everyone was trying to work out the situation. UAE-XRG started riding and were aided by Ineos, Lidl-Trek, and Pinarello Q36.5. Evenepoel and Vingegaard entered the town of Reus with bonus seconds available at the last intermediate sprint. Evenepoel rolled through uncontested at 14.5 kilometers to go to take 3 seconds, Vingegaard 2 seconds, and the peloton mopped up the final second as they hit the sprint line 25 seconds later.
The highway leading into Vila-seca was only to the advantage of a large peloton and the lead of Evenepoel and Vingegaard was gradually trimmed, second by second. Vingegaard seemed to accept that they would be caught and stopped pulling with 10 kilometers to go. The bunch were charging and Evenepoel called off the advance with 6 kilometers to go. The pugnacious Evenepoel didn't want to go down without a fight however and decided to rip it one more time. Vingegaard clung on and Evenepoel towed the Dane into 2 kilometers to go. The gap was at 10 seconds under 1 kilometer from the finish but disaster struck for Evenepoel a few moments later. A roundabout approached and it was unclear which direction to go. Evenepoel crashed but Vingegaard avoided the fall and safely negotiated the turn. The bunch were just behind and Vingegaard was wiped up by the lead out of Ineos with 175 meters to go. Dorian Godon of Ineos hit out first at 150 meters and there wasn't enough power in the legs of his rivals to contest the French Champion. Godon took the win on a wild stage ahead of Ethan Vernon of NSN Cycling and Noah Hobbs of EF-Education EasyPost.
Courtesy of the bonus seconds, Godon continues to lead the GC, now by 11 seconds to Evenepoel, 16 seconds to Tom Pidcock, and 18 seconds to Vingegaard with the high mountains on the horizon.