Belgium’s Wout van Aert retained his overall lead at the Vuelta a Espana with a powerful sprint finish to win stage three on Monday.
Van Aert held off Kaden Groves to claim victory on the 191.2km route – from Lousa to Castelo Branco in Portugal – and enact revenge on the Australian, who had pipped him to stage two a day earlier.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Van Aert keeps hold of the red leader’s jersey after his first victory since February, and 10th at a Grand Tour.
Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was second in the same time with Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Spanish rider Jon Aberasturi third.
“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,” said Van Aert.
“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.
“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.”
Sprint specialist Van Aert will play a supporting role for 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,” added Van Aert.
Kuss trails Van Aert by one minute and six seconds, while race favourite Primoz Roglic – hunting a fourth Vuelta title – is 30 seconds behind the Belgian.
