Glory for Gaudu! Frenchman incredibly out-kicks Pedersen & Vingegaard for stage 3 win at 2025 Vuelta a Espana

Groupama - FDJ's David Gaudu has taken a thrilling victory on stage 3 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, out-sprinting Mads Pedersen and Jonas Vingegaard.

The day’s breakaway formed early, with Sean Quinn, Patrick Gamper, Alessandro Verre and Luca van Boven going clear after several attempts to establish a move. Mads Pedersen was among those to try and join them, but when the Lidl-Trek rider was unable to make it across, he settled back into the peloton. His team then took control of the race, keeping the quartet on a tight leash.

Through the early kilometres, the gap hovered around a minute and a half, as Lidl-Trek dictated the tempo to protect Pedersen. With 100 kilometres to go, the break’s lead was 1:35, and 20 kilometres later it remained steady at 1:30 with the first climbs approaching.

On the lower slopes of the first categorised ascent, the Issiglio (5.8km at 6.5%), the dynamic changed. Verre accelerated in the break, dropping Gamper, while the peloton eased its pace slightly, allowing the advantage to stretch out to 2:30. Before long, only Verre and Quinn remained in front, as Van Boven also lost contact.

Back in the peloton, Lidl-Trek set a tempo designed to wear down rival sprinters. Their steady pressure eventually distanced Jasper Philipsen, who was dropped just before the summit. With teammates around him, however, the Belgian was able to limit his losses to 15–20 seconds and looked set to regain contact on the descent.

At the front, Verre continued to show his climbing strength by winning the KOM sprint at the top of the Issiglio. The Italian’s effort was enough to move him into the lead of the mountains classification, surpassing Jonas Vingegaard.

With 55 kilometres to go, the peloton swept up Gamper and Van Boven, leaving Verre and Quinn ahead by 1:50. Pedersen took third in the intermediate sprint behind the leaders, while Philipsen managed to claw back once again after a long chase.

The relentless tempo from Lidl-Trek then began to bite. At 45 kilometres to go, it was unclear whether Philipsen was still in the peloton, as the rolling terrain and constant accelerations stretched the group. Out front, Verre cracked under the effort he had spent on the climb, leaving Quinn alone in the lead with barely 50 seconds in hand.

The drama continued in the bunch, where Harold Martin López and Jardi van der Lee hit the deck, fortunately without serious consequences. Soon after, Philipsen was confirmed back in the peloton, working to move up again.

As the race hit the final 33 kilometres, Quinn was the last survivor of the day’s breakaway, but his advantage was slim: just 45 seconds over the peloton. Inside the final 20 kilometres of the day, the former American national champion was then swallowed up by the peloton. Thoughts then began to properly turn towards preparing for the 2.5km punchy, uphill finale.

There was a real fight for position at the front of the pack as well with Lidl-Trek, Visma, UAE and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe all competing for authority heading onto the final kicker. At the back meanwhile, stage 1 winner Philipsen was dropped again, ending for good the Belgian's hopes of adding another stage victory to his palmares on this day.

With even Vingegaard himself coming out to play in the finale, the sprinters and the GC men fought together for the stage win. Ultimately though, it was Groupama - FDJ's David Gaudu that powered the win, out-sprinting Pedersen and Vingegaard to take the win.