“The problem is everyone’s waiting there for 30 minutes before the decision is made” - British former Vuelta leader reveals hidden cost to riders of stage 3 chaos

Stage 3 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana was wiped from the race after hail and extreme weather forced the peloton to seek shelter around 15 kilometres from the planned finish at Font Romeu on Monday. But once the bikes had stopped, Peter Kennaugh says the problems for the riders were far from over.

The former British champion, who wore the Vuelta's red jersey in 2016 and now works as an assistant sports director with XDS Astana Team, highlighted the uncertainty teams face in that situation: riders waiting in soaked clothing, limited kit available from the following cars and buses potentially another 50 to 100 kilometres up the road.

Discussing the extraordinary scenes with Ned Boulting on the For the Love of Cycling Podcast, Kennaugh described what followed as “pure chaos”.

Monday's 174-kilometre stage had been heading towards the first summit finish of this year's Vuelta when conditions deteriorated sharply on the approach to Font Romeu. Television pictures arrived as riders were beginning to struggle in the hail, with race leader Tadej Pogacar moving to the front of the bunch.

“We do get television pictures right at the right moment,” Boulting said. “We see Tadej Pogacar riding to the front and basically trying to tell everybody, ‘This is ridiculous.’ We've already seen some riders off the back who are just hunched up by the side of the road, trying to find shelter as these hailstones begin to absolutely batter down. It looked like they were in pain.”

Pogacar then spotted shelter off to the side of the road as the peloton came towards him. “He points quickly off to the left,” Boulting continued. “And then the next thing you know is the remainder of the bunch. They are all heading for this building and running for shelter. I can't even imagine what chaos must have been ensuing in those conditions.”

The riders took refuge in a nearby hotel and the stage never restarted. With safety the priority, organisers cancelled the day entirely, leaving no stage winner or official podium and no result to carry into the classifications.

Kennaugh has experienced Grand Tours from both sides of the team car. He raced seven himself before moving into sports direction, and his current role with XDS Astana Team gives him a direct view of the practical problems created when a stage suddenly stops far from the finish.

“In this situation, when you're there as a rider or as a director in the car, it's absolutely insane, pure chaos, because you don't know what to do,” he said.

That uncertainty can continue long after the racing has stopped. “The problem is everyone's waiting there for maybe 20, 30 minutes before the decision's made,” Kennaugh explained. “Your bus is at the finish line, potentially 50 to 100k away. You've got the riders here with only what they have in the car, which is their wet bags, maybe one rain jacket, this, that and the other. It's really hard to empathise with them when you're just watching it on your sofa.”

The cancelled stage leaves the general classification exactly as it stood after stage 2, with the Vuelta moving straight from Monday's aborted first summit-finish test into Tuesday's 104.8-kilometre mountain stage around Andorra la Vella.