Tour de Luxembourg 2022 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

September 15, 2022

Tour de Luxembourg 2022 – Stage 3 – Rosport – Diekirch : 188,4 km

Luxembourg’s flagship stage-race used to fall just a couple of weeks before the Tour de France, providing those riders with their eyes set on the yellow jersey with a chance to hone their form ahead of the three-week race. The race has since joined the UCI ProSeries calendar however, and in doing so has been moved to a mid-september slot, changing it from a warm-up event to a last-ditch attempt for many riders to secure a contract for the following season. The race may take place in one of Europe’s smallest nations, but that doesn’t stop it from seeking out enough unique terrain for five action-packed stages. A lot of these stages crosscut each other, creating a route map that looks remarkably similar to a spider’s web. The five-day event typically begins with a short prologue before sending the riders on four undulating stages around the country, with the fifth and final stage often taking place on a lumpy circuit around the capital, Luxembourg City. It’s this final stage that often decides the general classification, with the stage winner often taking the overall victory thanks to the bountiful supply of bonus seconds on offer at the finish line.

Aaron Gate (Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling) soared to victory on stage 3 of the Tour de Luxembourg, jumping on a late attack to steal a march on the sprinters.

The decorated New Zealand track rider won the Commonwealth Games road race last month and continued his run of road form with a devastating late move in Diekirch.

Gate was the first to react to an attack from Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) with a kilometre to go, working his way up to the wheel before tracking him through the final bend and then dispatching him with a final acceleration.

Davide Ballerini (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) rounded out the podium, leading home a reduced peloton that was caught off guard by the late attack.

“To get the arms up here is a pretty amazing feeling,” said Gate. “It’s a big race, a beautiful country to race in so far. Big thanks to team for giving me an opportunity today and I’m just happy to finish it off for them.

“My friend and rival from the track, Benjamin Thomas, launched with a kilometre to go with a really strong attack, I nearly got on the wheel and I used it as a run to come out of the last corner. When I saw the 200m to go sign on the last corner I couldn’t believe what was happening. I just had to go full gas to the line.”

Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) finished safely in that main bunch to retain the yellow jersey as overall leader.

The podium remains unchanged, with Sjoerd Bax (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at seven seconds and stage 2 winner Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) at eight seconds, but the 10 bonus seconds for stage victory catapult Gate 23 places into fourth, tied on time with Trentin.

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