DISCUSSION Vuelta a España Stage 3 | Was David Gaudu's victory the biggest surprise of the year? Can Jonas Vingegaard win the green jersey classification?

The third stage of the Vuelta a España was the last taking place in Italian territory, featuring a hilly terrain that was the perfect opportunity for puncheurs and versatile sprinters.

Four riders immediately formed the breakaway of the day, soon after the start was given. Sean Quinn, Alessandro Verre, Patrick Gamper and Luca van Boven were the four members, fighting to get distanced from peloton.

Lidl – Trek, however, never allowed the gap to grow bigger than 2:30 minutes, dictating the tempo in order to protect Pedersen and maximize his chances in a potential final sprint. In the first categorized climb of the day (Issiglio, 5.8km à 6.5%), Gamper and van Boven lost contact with the break, leaving just two riders in front. Verre spent a lot of energy during the climb to secure the KOM points and paid the price afterwards, leaving Quinn alone in front, who would subsequently be caught by peloton with 20km to go.

Jasper Philipsen suffered during most of the day to stay in peloton, but he would eventually lose contact and was out of contention for the stage due to Lidl – Trek’s continuous high pace. In the final kilometre, it was clear a handful of sprinters and the GC guys were going to fight for the stage.

Giulio Ciccone did a superb job to position Pedersen, but he was overtaken by David Gaudu in the final corner, and the Frenchman would end up stealing the victory. Pedersen and Vingegaard completed the podium, with the Dane securing 4 bonus seconds and the green jersey.

Once the stage finished, we asked some of our writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.

A very slow stage, just like at the start of the Vuelta. Small breakaway, easy to control for Lidl-Trek. Visma came up very well in the final kilometres, another great job by Campenaerts, but it was the American team that launched the final sprint uphill.

Ciccone went off the front too early and left Pedersen exposed, the Dane should have increased the pace, but he ‘let himself be rolled’ by David Gaudu, who overtook him on the inside of the bend, in a somewhat dangerous manoeuvre, and took a victory that had been eluding him for a long time. Pedersen second, beaten again, will the Dane turn things around?

Speaking of the Dane, Vingegaard was very attentive and took 3rd, holding on to his lead. Highlights included the young Jordan Labrosse and Bjorn Koerdt in the top 10, as well as the overall cyclists: Ciccone, Buitrago, Bernal and Hindley.

Lidl - Trek's eagerness not to let the breakaway took its toll on Mads Pedersen at the finish. His teammates pulled like hell throughout the day and the Dane was overtaken in the sprint by David Gaudu.

Impressive start to the Vuelta a España 2025 for the Frenchman, who was third yesterday and won today. It's hard to believe that anyone expected to see him at the level of Jonas Vingegaard in the classification after 3 stages.

On the Movistar Team side, they made a very big effort to bring Orluis Aular to the front positions, but the Venezuelan ran out of legs in the sprint. He finished sixth, just ahead of two Colombians: Santiago Buitrago and Egan Bernal, who like Gaudu, is having a very good start of the Vuelta.

Lidl-Trek hit the post for the second consecutive day. After exemplary work from the whole team, Mads Pedersen was unable to finish the job. Rain was expected, but fortunately it didn't show up, although some roads were wet. The tension and battle for position after the capture of the last escapee were intense, reaching a peak in the final stage of the day. Everyone wanted to be at the front, the peloton stretched out immensely, and fears arose that men in the general classification might lose time at the end of the day.

The last kilometre was diabolical. Vingegaard and Pedersen seemed destined to battle it out for the stage at the entrance to the last corner, but then David Gaudu emerged imperiously. What legs the French cyclist from FDJ had. For someone who hadn't won at World Tour level since 2022, winning today and in the way he did leaves the questions: Where has this Gaudu been? What can we expect from him now? Will we have Gaudu in the fight for the overall classification? The road will tell us in the coming days. Either way, welcome back, Gaudu.

David Gaudu’s win today was like finally getting a shaky cheap hometrainer to work after hours of frustration. Yesterday’s podium was a first test run. A few bolts tightened, but the ride still rattled. Today, in the last uphill meters, he found the missing adjustment, even brought the hammer out, and pulled off that daring inside move. Suddenly the machine ran smoothly, and Gaudu powered past everyone.

Mads Pedersen and Lidl - Trek looked set to finish the job, but their effort collapsed. Even Jonas Vingegaard, steady as ever, couldn’t hold him off.

For Gaudu, this wasn’t just a stage win. It was the satisfying moment when you bash the last piece into place and the whole thing suddenly works better than expected.

The profile didn’t look that hard on paper, but it proved to be very tricky. There were constant ups and downs during the second half of the stage and took a toll on many riders.

Instead of Q36.5, it was the turn of Lidl – Trek to take responsibility to pull in peloton during the whole day to keep the break under control. They knew the break couldn’t be too big or else it would be really hard to take them down, so having only four riders in front was the perfect outcome for them. In the end they narrowly missed the victory once again, unlucky for them, but with the strong team they brought to the Vuelta, they should eventually succeed.

I actually cannot understand why most teams don’t bother sending some riders to the breakaway in days like today. The terrain was perfect for a big group to succeed, but just four riders cannot compete against the bunch. Most teams do not stand a chance if the whole peloton arrives together to the finish line, as men such as Pedersen or Philipsen are just several steps ahead of the rest of the competition.

Why don’t they all go in the break? They would have a much bigger chance to win in that scenario, yet they just don’t see interested for some reason. The beginning of the stage was not hard at all today, but still only four riders fought to be in the break. What were the rest of the teams doing? Are they delusional enough to think they would have better chances in a bunch sprint?

I understand teams fully focused on the GC aspirations like Visma or UAE do not care about being in the breakaway, but the main goal of 90% of the teams is to get a stage win, and they shouldn’t be throwing away great opportunities like today’s.

David Gaudu beating Mads Pedersen and Jonas Vingegaard in a sprint was not in my bingo card for 2025. The Frenchman was having a very rough year, almost invisible during the Giro and skipping the Tour. However, similar to last year, he might have found his best version at the Vuelta.

Yesterday he already showed a glimpse of his current shape, finishing third just behind Vingegaard and Ciccone, and today he outsprinted all of them and even someone like Mads Pedersen. One of the biggest surprises of the whole cycling year so far, so the obvious question now is: can he actually keep this high level and fight for the GC? Or will he just focus on stage wins?

Juan Ayuso is clearly not in top shape yet. Yesterday and today were uphill finishes that really suit him, at least when he is in top shape, but he was never close to fighting for the win. It is true the high mountains have not arrived yet and he has not lost time to the main favourites, but the feelings are not the best so far.

Jonas Vingegaard insists on racking up as many stage wins as possible, today he was close to getting another one. He even got the green jersey and considering all the uphill finishes left, he can comfortably win that one as well. The finish is slightly uphill tomorrow again; will we see him sprinting?