Joaquim Rodríguez won stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya Wednesday atop the La Molina climb in northeast Spain, vaulting into the overall lead. Rodríguez (Katusha) attacked late on the finish climb to win the 162-kilometer leg from Banyoles.
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) was second, at five seconds, and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and third, at nine seconds. American Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) was fourth.
Overnight leader Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) ceded the jersey he’d held for two days.
Movistar pushed the pace in the peloton over the opening half of the 12km finishing climb, catching the final of the day’s escapees in the final 5km. With 3km to go, roughly 25 riders comprised the lead group, with all the major players present.
Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) countered an acceleration from Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and went solo with 2km to go. The Dane looked over his left shoulder, but saw little reaction from the peloton.
Fuglsang’s bid ended at the 1km kite. Chris Froome (Sky) attacked, drawing out Rodríguez, Contador, and Quintana. Rodríguez countered, leaving the other three behind.
Froome faded to finish fifth behind van Garderen.
The Volta a Catalunya continues Thursday with the 166km fourth leg, from Alp to the hors categorie Vallter 2000-Setcases finish climb, which takes in five categorized climbs.
The post Rodriguez wins stage 4, takes lead in Volta a Catalunya appeared first on VeloNews.com.
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