Belgium’s Wout van Aert secured a win on stage three of the Vuelta a España with a decisive sprint finish on Monday. The 191.2km stage, which stretched from Lousa to Castelo Branco in Portugal, saw Van Aert narrowly defeat Kaden Groves to maintain his overall lead in the general classification.
Van Aert, representing Visma-Lease a Bike, managed to avenge his loss to Groves from stage two, where Groves had edged him out. This victory marks Van Aert’s first win since February and his 10th stage win at a Grand Tour.
Groves of Alpecin-Deceuninck finished second, while Jon Aberasturi from Euskaltel-Euskadi took third place. All three riders finished in the same time.
Van Aert commented, “It’s worth it to be patient, it’s been quite a while since I could raise my hands [in celebration] and this feels so good.” He added, “To use my strength and launch early, I think I surprised [Groves] by going even before 200 metres. It was the perfect sprint for me.”
Van Aert praised his team for their support, noting, “The team was so strong, we had the whole race in control, they got me the perfect position in the end so this gave me the confidence to finish it off.”
Looking ahead, Van Aert will support his Visma team-mate and defending Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss in stage four on Tuesday. “Unfortunately the fun is over, tomorrow I’ll be happy to give the role as team leader to Sepp and Cian [Uijtdebroeks], it will be the first test for the GC guys and I will try to enjoy [wearing red] one more time,” he said.
Kuss trails Van Aert by one minute and six seconds, while Primoz Roglic, who is aiming for his fourth Vuelta title, is 30 seconds behind the Belgian leader.
