Del Toro takes control of Deutschland Tour as Pellizzari wins stage 3

Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took control of the Lidl Deutschland Tour on stage 3 after launching a decisive attack 35km from the finish.

The Mexican escaped on the Rotsteig and was later joined by Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), with the pair distancing race leader Louis Barré (Visma | Lease a Bike) and eventually catching earlier attacker Nelson Oliveira (Movistar).

Oliveira was dropped on the first ascent of the Annaberg, leaving Del Toro and Pellizzari to press on towards Bad Dürkheim. Del Toro also picked up three bonus seconds in the finale, further strengthening his grip on the general classification.

With the race lead secured, Del Toro continued to work with Pellizzari before the Italian took the stage victory. Marc Hirschi (Tudor) finished third, while Barré crossed the line more than 50 seconds down and surrendered the leader's jersey.

Stage 3 took the riders 170.8 kilometres from Herxheim bei Landau to Bad Dürkheim, with more than 3,000 metres of climbing making it the most demanding day of the race.

Several riders tried to establish an early break, with Max Walscheid (Lidl-Trek), Tobias Müller (Unibet Rose Rockets), Ko Molenaar (Picnic PostNL), Miguel Heidemann (REMBE | rad-net) and Yaël Joalland (Cofidis) among those involved in the opening moves.

The attackers were never allowed much freedom, however. Lidl-Trek kept the gap under control and the race came back together with more than 100km still to ride.

The combination of repeated climbs and heavy rain steadily reduced the peloton, while Visma | Lease a Bike took responsibility for protecting Barré's six second advantage in the general classification.

Nelson Oliveira was eventually allowed to escape and built a lead of around a minute and a half as the race entered the Pfälzerwald.

Behind him, the situation remained relatively controlled until UAE Team Emirates-XRG decided not to wait for the final climbs.

With 35km remaining, Antonio Morgado increased the pace on the Rotsteig before Del Toro launched his attack.

Barré immediately responded. The race leader set off alone in pursuit and initially appeared capable of limiting the damage, but Del Toro continued to pull away as the climb progressed.

As Barré began to lose momentum, Pellizzari attacked from behind and quickly passed the Frenchman.

The Italian joined Del Toro on the descent before the pair caught Oliveira, creating a three man group at the head of the race. Their advantage was already approaching 45 seconds as Visma attempted to reorganise the chase.

Oliveira's resistance ended on the first passage of the Annaberg, where Del Toro and Pellizzari proved too strong. Barré tried once more to force his way clear from the chasing group, but he was unable to make any significant progress.

With around 10km remaining, the two leaders still had close to a minute in hand.

Hirschi emerged as the strongest of the chasers on the final ascent of the Annaberg, but also his attack failed to seriously threaten the leading pair.

Del Toro continued to contribute heavily at the front and added three bonus seconds at the late intermediate sprint, further strengthening his position in the general classification.

By the time the road turned towards Bad Dürkheim, the overall battle had been settled.

Pellizzari stayed with Del Toro all the way to the finish before taking the stage victory, while Del Toro's reward was the race lead.