Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) underscored his status and form ahead of the Tour de France with a dominant victory atop the Col de Beyrède on stage 3 of the Route d’Occitanie.
The penultimate stage of the four-day race brought the peloton over the Port de Balès and the Col de Peyresoude, providing a demanding test for the GC contenders.
Team Ineos were to the fore on the tough final ascent, which featured gradients of up to 17 per cent. Jonathan Castroviejo, Chris Froome and Tao Geoghegan Hart performed the early pace-setting to whittle down the leading group.
In the final three Kilometres, only four riders remained in front, as Pavel Sivakov set the tempo for his teammate Bernal, with 2018 Under 23 Giro d'Italia winner Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) on his wheel.
Come the final kilometre, only Vlasov could hold the Ineos tandem but he was unable to respond when Bernal launched his searing winning effort.
The Colombian came home 10 seconds ahead of Sivakov and 17 ahead of Vlasov, while Pinot (4th at 31 seconds) was the only other rider to finish within a minute of the 2019 Tour champion.
You can watch how it all unfolded in the highlights video above.
