Vuelta a Burgos: Evenepoel takes control on Picón Blanco

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Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) stormed to victory at the end of dramatic stage 3 of the Vuelta Burgos, winning ahead of George Bennett (Jumbo Visma) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren).

Evenepoel attacked from an elite group of leaders on the final climb and just under 2km to go and rode away from all of his rivals to take the win and the overall lead in the race with two stages to go. 

The young Belgian’s move came after another day of crosswinds and intense racing in Burgos before the Deceuninck rider timed his winning move to perfection.

Evenepoel finished 18 seconds clear of Bennett on the line and now leads the race by the same margin.

The stage came down to a straight-out battle on the slopes of Picón Blanco with Mitchelton-Scott appearing to hold the upper hand when they hit the front inside the final 6km. The Australian team had four riders - Esteban Chaves, Jack Haig, Simon Yates and Mikel Nieve – on the front as they set about splitting the already weakened peloton. 

Up ahead Roger Adrià (Kern Pharma) ploughed at the front of the race, having broken away from the day’s early move but the young rider was no match in the closing kilometres as Chaves launched two stinging attacks.

The Colombian dragged Bennett and Evenepoel with him as last year’s Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz valiantly fought to make contact. Last year’s winner Ivan Sosa and Alejandro Valverde were two of the earlier casualties from Mitchelton-Scott's pace but when Chaves attacked for a second time only Bennett and Evenepoel could follow. The Mitchelton rider’s latest attack brought Adria into view and Evenepoel used that moment to unleash a blistering attack without even moving out of the saddle. He tore past the fading Adria and quickly established a winning margin.

Chaves would eventually fade before the line, with Landa snatching third at 32 seconds, while Carapaz and Fabio Aru would break into the top-10 on the stage.

“There was a lot of wind, especially in the last few kilometres,” Evenepoel said at the finish.

“The last kilometre was really hard. I was already going flat out and there was a full headwind, but the wind was the same for everyone and I could hear my gap was increasing. For sure, without the team, I wouldn’t have achieved this victory. They kept me out of the wind all day and they brought me bottles. It was my job to finish it off, as a thank you to the team.

“The first goal was not to lose time. Then in my ear, the DS told me to try something because he could see on the television that I was still pretty fresh, and the others were suffering. I was on the limit, but if you don’t risk, you don’t win. It’s not in the pocket yet [for the GC], there are still two big days to go.”

How it unfolded

After a bunch sprint on stage 2, the attention swung towards the mountains with the first true uphill finish of the race. Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Nikita Stalnov (Astana), Roger Adrià (Kern Pharma), Francisco Galván (Kern Pharma), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Juan Felipe Osorio (Burgos-BH), Gotzon Martín (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Márton Dina (Kometa Xstra) and Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural) formed the days early break and the move quickly established a nine-minute gap over the peloton after climbing the second climb of the day of the Alto de Escalerón.

Then, on a quiet section of road, the race burst into life when Bora-Hansgrohe and Team Ineos blew the race to pieces in dramatic fashion as a strong cross-wind battered the peloton. All 11 riders in the lead group – including race leader Großschartner  - came from either Bora or Ineos but with so far to go until even the final climb the peloton was able to regroup and catch the dangerous move with 39km to go. There was a worrying sign for Ineos when last year’s winner, Sosa, was unable to follow the lead echelon.

The Colombian was dropped for a second time early on the final climb with Großschartner also among the early casualties as he waved goodbye to his race lead. 

With 3.4km to go Valverde slipped back as Mitchelton-Scott increased the pace in a bid to set up Chaves but their numerical superiority was exposed by Evenepoel, who continues his march towards the Giro d’Italia and in the process cement himself as a possible podium contender.

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