Movistar outsmart UAE and INEOS! Iván Romeo wins stage 3 at Valenciana as João Almeida becomes new race leader

Iván Romeo has won stage 3 of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana with a strong solo attack in the final kilometers of the stage. The Movistar Team benefited from his power and from the tough ascent that dropped former race leader Mathias Vacek.

Although it was not as chaotic as in France, the start of the stage in Spain was another dreadful one for some as we saw race leader Mathias Vacek involved in a crash that saw other riders abandon. José Juan Prieto, Unai Iribar, Francisco Muñoz, Matteo Scalco, Walter Calzoni and Filippo Ridolfo formed the day's breakaway, anticipating the mountain battle ahead.

This situation remained until the base of the final climb, with Muñoz being the final rider to get caught with 27 kilometers to go with the work of UAE Team Emirates - XRG. The Emirati team put several men to work and dropped the slightly injured Vacek - a new race then began, as UAE's work became defensive against their rivals.

Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda attacked close to the summit of the climb, but when Santiago Buitrago attacked it was virtual leader João Almeida himself who responded and the two would go on to take bonifications at the top of the climb. The work of INEOS brought back the duo, and soon after Iván Romeo attacked from the group - sparking a chase of INEOS, UAE and Bahrain who each had a men willing to work against the Spanish time-trialist.

He made it to the final ascent and crossed the line with a glorious stage victory, his first as an elite rider - also making his way closer to the race lead. Santiago Buitrago sprinted to second place in front of Almeida, but the bonifications of the Portuguese were enough to net him the race lead.