Stage 3

The road

At the start

Picón Blanco, already

The Vuelta wastes no time. Two hundred kilometres north through the province of Burgos, and then the Picón Blanco: 7.6 kilometres at 9.3 per cent, the same climb that sorted out most of this field at the Vuelta a Burgos a fortnight ago. Roglič keeps red by four seconds, and Bernal, Mas, López, Carapaz and Yates are still within seconds of one another.

How it was won

1. 119 km to go

   Calmejane goes early

   The third-category climb shakes up the break and wakes the peloton. Bayer leads over the top but Calmejane attacks alone on the far side, gambling that he can hold off better climbers on the mountain to come.

2. 28 km to go

   Caught on the Picón Blanco

   Calmejane's fifteen seconds evaporate as the gradient hits double figures in the second kilometre. Two hundred kilometres out front, and nothing to show for it.

3. 35 km to go

   Dombrowski tests them

   Five kilometres from the summit the American lifts the pace to see who is left. Bol and Amezqueta go straight out the back; only Elissonde and Taaramäe can hold him.

4. 43 km to go

   Taaramäe grinds clear

   Over the last three kilometres the Estonian — nobody's idea of the best climber in this group — simply refuses to stop turning the pedals, and slowly, agonisingly, prises himself away from Dombrowski and Elissonde. He is riding for a Grand Tour leader's jersey and he knows it.

5. 5At the line

   Picón Blanco

   Taaramäe wins alone, 21 seconds up on Dombrowski, and takes the red jersey. Behind, in a headwind, the favourites concentrate on not losing time rather than gaining it.

The result