Felix Gall shows Vuelta form by soloing into Burgos lead

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) underlined his Vuelta a España form with a fine victory on stage 3 of the Vuelta a Burgos to Balneario de Corconte after launching a volley of attacks on the climb of the Puerto del Escudo.

The Australian’s initial attack came 4km from the summit, and he eventually punched clear in the final kilometre despite fierce resistance from overnight leader Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) on the upper reaches of the climb.

Gall had a handful of seconds in hand at the top and he held his advantage on the short drop to the line, coming home alone 10 seconds clear to claim stage honours and the overall lead.

Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) sprinted to second place ahead of Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) after they caught Onley in the finishing straight.

Mathys Rondel (Tudor) and Enric Mas (Movistar) came home at 22 seconds, while Jarno Widar (Lotto Intermarché) and Pablo Torres (UAE) finished 46 seconds down.

In the overall standings, Gall leads Ciccone by six seconds, with Onley third at eight seconds.

The stage was animated by a break of seven riders that formed in two phases, with Gorka Corres (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma) and Iker Mintegi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) escaping on the day’s early ascents before Milan Vader (Pinarello-Q36.5), Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jasper Schoofs (Soudal Quick-Step) bridging across on the Alto Retuerta with a shade over 100km to go.

The gap hovered at around two minutes after Sivakov et al offered reinforcements, but the gap began to contract after the penultimate ascent of Estacas de Trueba, with Decathlon CMA CGM active in leading the pursuit.

The break began to fragment even before the HC climb of the Puerto del Escudo began in earnest, and the gap was down to 30 seconds as the race entered the final 12km, and Sivakov and the last men standing from the break were swept up with 10km to go, just as the gradient began to bite.

Lidl-Trek took up the reins for Giulio Ciccone on the Escudo, with Julien Bernard and then Sam Oomen laying down the tempo. Jay Vine’s challenge was interrupted by a clumsy fall that saw him stop to reseat his chain, and the Australian couldn’t get back on.

Ciccone’s acceleration came with a little under 5km of the climb to go, but the race leader Oscar Onley responded immediately. Shortly afterwards, Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) punched clear, opening a 10-second gap, with Decathlon now setting the pace on behalf of Felix Gall.

The Austrian launched a wicked acceleration with 4km of the climb remaining, bringing Onley, Ciccone and Enric Mas with him. That quartet initially ripped past Torres, but the youngster had the nous to bide his time and bridge back up when they spread across the road after Gall’s initial burst. 

Gall kicked again 2km from the top, and Ciccone and Onley were initially able to follow, but the Austrian pressed clear alone near the mist-shrouded summit. Onley battled gamely to limit the damage, cresting the summit 10 seconds behind Gall and giving chase on the short 3km drop to the line.