August 8, 2026
We've already had the Queen Stage of the race but today's traditional finish in the Sierra de la Demandas to Lagunas de Neila is very hard and will create the separation that will cement the GC for the 2026 edition. A short stage of just 137 km starts in Caleruega and generally heads North through Quintanilla del Coco and across the Mataviejas River. Over the next 60 km, there are two Category three climbs with a Bonus Sprint sandwiched in the middle in Huerta de Abajo. Tension will rise all the way to the bottom of the Category one Alto de Rozavientos, a 3.3 km climb at almost 10%. A 10 km descent leads the peloton into Quintanar de la Sierra where the road starts to drag up to the base of Lagunas de Neila. The last 13 km are uphill but the classified climb is 6.4 km at 9.1% with the finish at the summit. Gall proved to be the best climber on the Puerto del Escudo on Stage 3 but there are still five riders within 30 seconds who will be dreaming of the overall title at the end of the day.
Race Summary
While not as warm as yesterday, the temperature was 31C (88F) at the bottom of Lagunas de Neila when the race got underway. The first 50 km of the day were hectic as a break tried to get established. The peloton split in half at one point but it came back together and a group of 15 riders went away. Live coverage began with just 45 km to go and the break were just 1 minute 20 seconds ahead of the peloton being led by Netcompany-Ineos and Decathlon CMA CGM. The lead group was down to 12 riders consisting of Kevin Vermaerke and Igor Arrieta of UAE-XRG, Milan Vader of Pinarello Q36.5, Urko Berrade and Nil Gimeno of Equipo Kern Pharma, Gianmarco Garofoli of Soudal Quickstep, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Baptiste Vadic of TotalEnergies, Rémy Rochas of Groupama-FDJ United, Jorge Arcas of Movistar, Vincenzo Albanese of EF-Education EasyPost, and Davide Donati of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe.
At the start of the Alto de Tolbaños just inside 40 km to go, the gap was down to 1 minute 5 seconds. It remained about the same by the top as UAE-XRG, Netcompany-Ineos, and Decathlon CMA CGM jockeyed for position in the reduced peloton of around 60 riders. A dragging uncategorized climb followed the descent off of Alto de Tolbaños which was a prime launch pad those in the break. Vermaerke was the first to spring forward with 29.5 km to go as the gap ticked down to 40 seconds. Garofoli quickly got on to the American's wheel and Albanese joined before the descent to make three leaders on the road.
The gap was 37 seconds when the road pitched upwards on the lower slopes of the Alto de Rozaviento. Albanese could not hang with the pace put on by his compatriot Garofoli and drifted backwards with 2 km to climb. The road twisted deeper into the forest and the gradients increased to over 12% for the final kilometer. The pace went slightly out of the peloton which allowed Pavel Sivakov of UAE-XRG to attack. Niels Driesen of Lotto Intermarché came with Sivakov and the pair quickly made their way through dropped riders of the break and had Vermaerke, who distanced Garofoli 800 meters from top, in their sights. The steep gradients made the last few hundred meters take an eternity. Driesen and Sivakov teamed up with Vermaerke 100 meters from the top and the new leading trio started the descent just 15 seconds ahead of the Decathlon CMA CGM led peloton.
Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe tried to put pressure on Felix Gall on the descent but the Austrian had the answers and the bunch took the rest of the downhill at a more reasonable pace. The break started the uphill drag heading towards Lagunas de Neila and were putting nice time into the Decathlon CMA CGM led peloton. With 9 km to go, the gap was back up to 40 seconds but by the official start of the climb, it was down to 20 seconds as Vermaerke was dropped and Movistar had taken over the pace making.
As the gradients became steeper, Lidl-Trek went to the front and increased the pace. There were still at least 40 riders in the group however at 4 km to go and Sivakov and Driesen were holding on to a 10 second advantage. The road ramped up to 15% inside 4 km to go and Driesen was able to distance Sivakov but the peloton was tickling the young Belgian's heels. The catch was finally made with 3.5 km to go under the pressure put on by Callum Scotson for race leader Gall. Scotson handed the baton to Léo Bisiaux who trimmed the group further down to just eight riders. Bisiaux managed to do a few hundred meters on the front before he swung off and let Gall off the leash. Only Oscar Onley of Netcompany-Ineos and Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek were able to go with Gall but Giulio Pellizzari of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Mathys Rondel of Tudor Pro Cycling, and Enric Mas of Movistar were pacing their effort well. Three became six and the speed went completely out of the group. Gall decided to set his own pace and once again, it was Onley and Ciccone that could follow.
With 1,500 meters to go, Gall, Ciccone, and Onley were caught by Pellizzari, Rondel, Mas, and Pablo Torres of UAE-XRG. Torres attacked as soon as he got on and was followed by Pellizzari. Pellizzari made a powerful acceleration to drop Torres to go alone with a nice gap coming into 1 km to go. Meanwhile behind, it was was a stand-off and the win was disappearing up the road. At 400 meters to go, Onley made a bid for the line and went full. Ciccone responded but it took Gall a few moments to claw his way onto the wheel. Pellizzari rounded the last corner at 50 meters to go and put his hands up in victory as he crossed the line. Moments later, Onley came storming to the line to finish second at 3 seconds but Gall knew the assignment and was glued to the Scot's back wheel to finish third on the same time. Ciccone faded in the sprint to take fourth place on the day at 5 seconds.
Gall's grit earned him the GC win by 5 seconds to Onley, both of whom are coming into top form with La Vuelta on the horizon. Ciccone held on to third overall at 12 seconds from Gall with Pellizzari solidifying a fourth place after improving each day.