Tour of the Basque Country 2017 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

April 05, 2017

Tour of the Basque Country 2017 – Stage 3– Gasteiz – Donostia : 160,5 km

The 2017 Tour of the Basque Country is a road cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place between 3 and 8 April. It will be the 57th edition of the Tour of the Basque Country and will be the fourteenth event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.

David de la Cruz soloed to victory on Wednesday’s third stage of the Vuelta al País Vasco, attacking on the day’s final climb and staying clear to the finish in San Sebastián.

The Quick-Step Floors rider opened up an advantage on a select group of GC hopefuls cresting the final ascent, and he held on to just enough of the gap to take the stage win at the line. Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski won the sprint for second place three seconds behind De la Cruz, with Bora-Hansgrohe’s Jay McCarthy taking third on the day.

Team Sunweb’s Michael Matthews, who started stage 3 atop the overall leaderboard, came unglued from the main GC group on the hectic final climb. The Australian gave a valiant chase trying to rejoin the group on the descent but couldn’t make the catch, dropping out of the GC top 10 and relinquishing the leader’s jersey to De La Cruz

How it unfolded

The undulating stage 3 of the Tour of the Basque Country kicked off with a flurry of attacks as numerous riders tried to make the day’s main breakaway, but it took quite some time for the successful selection to form.

Only after around 40 kilometres of racing did a group get clear.

Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis Solutions, Credits), Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Sergio Pardilla (Caja Rural), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ), Antonio Nibali (Bahrain Merida), Alex Howes (Cannondale-Drapac) and Eros Capecchi (Quick-Step Floors) formed the formidable nine-man escape on the way up the Udana climb.

After the hectic start, the bunch gave the breakers some breathing room, allowing the gap to grow to a little over four minutes before tightening the leash, with Movistar and Sky taking to the front of the peloton.

The gap was down to around two and a half minutes with 70 kilometres to go, and it hovered there for a while before gradually beginning to drop again.

A crash in the peloton saw Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe hit the deck going through the feed zone, another frustrating moment for the Frenchman after a heart-breaking puncture just a few hundred metres from the safety of the three-kilometres-to-go marker dropped him out of contention in the opening stage.

The bunch had closed the gap down to around a minute with 50 kilometres to go, with the escape starting to break into pieces on the third-category Alkiza climb. Six of the escapees were caught in short order, while Fuglsang, De Marchi and Montaguti pressed on into the final 40 kilometres. Montaguti then fell off the pace, but Fuglsang and De Marchi held on for dear life with Movistar and Sky continuing to set a hard pace in the peloton, with the gap at 20 seconds heading into the last 30 kilometres.

Though the duo managed to hold out for a little while longer even with the small gap, they were finally caught with around 20 kilometres to go heading into the Mendizorrotz final climb.

In the ensuing regrouping, Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde and Orica-Scott’s Simon Yates both found themselves in technical difficulty. Valverde made a quick bike change and a strong effort in pursuit saw him reattach with the dwindling peloton on the slopes of the climb. A punctured Yates, however, had no such luck, finding himself well behind the pack after getting a new wheel. He ultimately came home 1:33 down.

There was a flurry of attacks off the front as the GC group made its way up the Mendizorrotz, but none stuck until de la Cruz powered away with around 15 kilometres to go. A brief moment of hesitation from the rest of the group was all he needed to quickly open up a 20-second advantage.

Movistar and Sky jumped to attention as they neared the summit, and then Primoz Roglic (LottoNl-Jumbo) and Rigoberto Urán (Cannondale-Drapac) tried to bridge, shortening the gap—but no one could quite catch De la Cruz, who took around 10 seconds over the top of the climb.

Despite a hard-charging select group in pursuit, the Spaniard held onto most of that gap through trek down into San Sebastián, heading into the flat final three kilometres with a 10-second gap.

The bunch drew closer rounding the last few corners, but De la Cruz was not to be denied, holding on by three seconds to take the victory with the pack settling for minor placings close behind.

Results :
1 David De La Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 3:54:25
2 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:03
3 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
5 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
6 Rudy Molard (Fra) FDJ
7 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
8 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
9 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
11 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
12 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
13 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
14 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
15 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
16 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
17 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
18 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
19 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
20 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
22 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
23 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
24 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
25 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Jaime Roson (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
27 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates
28 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
29 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
30 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
31 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
32 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
33 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
34 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
35 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
36 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky
37 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
38 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
39 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
40 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
41 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
42 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:39
43 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:01:02
44 Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data
45 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
46 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
47 Alexander Aranburu (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
48 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
49 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
50 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:01:33
51 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Sunweb
53 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
54 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott 0:01:41
55 Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott
56 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
57 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:08
58 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:03:22
59 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
60 Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:05:46
61 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
62 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ
63 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
64 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida
65 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott
66 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
67 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
68 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
69 André Cardoso (Por) Trek-Segafredo
70 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
71 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
72 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
73 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:07:15
74 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
75 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team
76 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:08:26
77 Jon Irisarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
78 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:10:51
79 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:49
80 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team 0:14:10
81 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
82 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
83 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
84 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale-Drapac
85 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
86 Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
87 Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
88 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
89 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
90 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
91 Jose Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team
92 David Lopez (Spa) Team Sky
93 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
94 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott
95 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
96 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
97 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal
98 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team
99 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
100 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ
101 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-Scott
102 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott
103 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
104 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
105 Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
106 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
107 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
108 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
109 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:14:42
110 Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:25
111 Matej Mohoric (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:35
112 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
113 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
114 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
115 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data
116 Jonathan Lastra (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
117 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
118 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
119 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
120 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
121 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
122 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
123 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
124 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
125 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
126 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
127 Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ
128 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:16:46
129 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
130 Fabricio Ferrari (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
131 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
132 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
133 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ
134 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
135 Luis Mas (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
136 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
137 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
138 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
139 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
140 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
141 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-Scott
142 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
143 Rafael Reis (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
144 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
145 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
146 Cedric Pineau (Fra) FDJ
147 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
148 Mathias Leturnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
149 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
150 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
151 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
152 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
153 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
154 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:23:02
155 Martin Velits (Svk) Quick-Step Floors
156 Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) Dimension Data
157 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:26:16

General classification after stage 3 :
1 David De La Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 12:14:54
2 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:03
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
4 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
5 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Rudy Molard (Fra) FDJ
7 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
9 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
11 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
12 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
13 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
14 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
15 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
16 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
17 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
18 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
19 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
20 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
21 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
22 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
23 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
24 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
25 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
26 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
27 Jaime Roson (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
28 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
29 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
30 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
31 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky
32 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
33 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
34 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
35 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
36 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates
37 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
38 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
39 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
40 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
41 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
42 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:01:02
43 Alexander Aranburu (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
44 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
45 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
46 Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data
47 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
48 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Sunweb 0:01:33
49 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team
50 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
51 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:41
52 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott
53 Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott
54 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:03:02
55 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:08
56 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:03:22
57 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
58 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:30
59 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:31
60 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:05:46
61 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
62 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
63 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
64 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida
65 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
66 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ
67 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
68 Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
69 André Cardoso (Por) Trek-Segafredo
70 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott
71 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
72 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:15
73 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team
74 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
75 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:08:26
76 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:01
77 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:10:51
78 Jon Irisarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:11:12
79 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:58
80 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:14:10
81 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team
82 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
83 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott
84 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal
85 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale-Drapac
86 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
87 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
88 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
89 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
90 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
91 Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
92 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
93 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
94 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
95 David Lopez (Spa) Team Sky
96 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
97 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
98 Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
99 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-Scott
100 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
101 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
102 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:15:17
103 Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:25
104 Matej Mohoric (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:35
105 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
106 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
107 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
108 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
109 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
110 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
111 Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ
112 Jonathan Lastra (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
113 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
114 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data
115 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
116 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
117 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ 0:15:39
118 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac 0:16:29
119 Jose Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team
120 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
121 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:16:46
122 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
123 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
124 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-Scott
125 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
126 Mathias Leturnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
127 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
128 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
129 Rafael Reis (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
130 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
131 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
132 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
133 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:16:51
134 Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:17:07
135 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:18:03
136 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 0:18:10
137 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:18:15
138 Cedric Pineau (Fra) FDJ
139 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:18:21
140 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team 0:18:38
141 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:47
142 Fabricio Ferrari (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:18:55
143 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
144 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin 0:19:14
145 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
146 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
147 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates 0:19:39
148 Luis Mas (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:19:51
149 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:19:54
150 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:12
151 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:20:33
152 Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) Dimension Data 0:23:02
153 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
154 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:23:13
155 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:26:14
156 Martin Velits (Svk) Quick-Step Floors 0:27:49