Ivan Romeo wins O Gran Camiño stage 3 to thunder back into GC picture

The Spanish champion came home 15 seconds clear of Alessandro Pinarello (NSN) and Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), while fellow escapees George Bennet (NSN), Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike) followed at 26 seconds.

Nordhagen is the new leader, a second clear of Pinarello, while Romeo is now sixth at 26 seconds.

Winner of the Ruta del Sol in February, Romeo set out among the favourites for the GC here, but he suffered frustration when his effort in the opening time trial was disrupted by a picture. He made amends here with a display that married power and poise in the finale.

Romeo was part of the six-man group of strongmen that formed on the Alto Pico Muralla with 32km remaining, and he managed his resources smartly by allowing his breakaway companions to punch themselves out chasing bonus seconds at the trio of intermediate sprints in the finale before striking out himself.

He split the group in two with an acceleration with 17km to go, and he proceeded to punch clear of Pinarello and Balderstone with a shade under 11km remaining.

Once Romeo had a gap, he never looked like being brought back, and he powered into Padrón the stage winner.

The 10km haul up the Alto Pico Muralla was always going to be the pivotal section of the stage, and Movistar were among the teams who worked to keep the early break within touching distance ahead of the ascent, which began with a shade over 40km remaining.

Romeo was among the aggressors once the ascent began, with Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) then producing a long turn that doomed the break and triggered the stage-defining split.

George Bennett (NSN) looked comfortable on the climb and the New Zealand champion attacked 3km from the top, bringing Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) with him. That pair would be joined by Yates, Romeo, Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Alessandro Pinarello (NSN), and they crested the summit with 32km to go with more than half a minute in hand on the peloton.

They stretched their buffer on the descent that led to a series of undulations and a tightly-packed trio of bonus sprints, where Pinarello picked up six bonus seconds and his teammate Bennett collected four.

The front group split ahead of the third sprint, which left Romeo, Balderstone and Pinarello with a 10-second lead on their erstwhile companions and 50 seconds with 12km to go.

Shortly afterwards, Romeo struck out alone, and once the Spaniard had opened a gap, his time trialling gifts meant it was never going to be closed again.