Victory at last for Wout van Aert after powerful sprint on stage 3 of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana
Cycling
The second bunch sprint of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana and Wout van Aert has finally returned to winning ways after a powerful performance in the Red Jersey on stage 3, edging out stage 2 winner Kaden Groves.
Four riders managed to get themselves up the road early on, all from the invited Spanish teams. Luis Angel Mate and Xabier Isasa from the Euskaltel - Euskadi were joined by Ibon Ruiz and Unai Iribar of Equipo Kern Pharma. Notably, both Mate and Ruiz were also together in the break on stage 2.
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Due to their escapades yesterday, Mate and Ruiz were going head to head for the King of the Mountains points at the top of the 2nd category Alto de Teixeira. In the end, it was Mate who took the maximum points on offer. After the climb, the breakaway slowed considerably, knowing their job for the day was pretty much done. Not wanting to complete the catch just yet however, with around 90km still to go, the peloton eased off as well.
After a rather lethargic 20km, things heated up slightly in preparation for the intermediate sprint, where Wout van Aert led home the peloton behind the four leaders, beating off competition from Kaden Groves in a potential prelude to the day's final sprint.
With just over 20km to go, the last of the break was finally swept up by the peloton and it was then full gas and full focus towards the bunch sprint finish and a likely round 2 of the sprint showdown between Van Aert and Groves. Thankfully, all the general classification hopefuls were safely navigated through the relative safe haven of the 4km to go marker. With the pace incredibly high however, there was no room for relaxation just yet.
Inside the final 2km, Victor Campenaerts attempted a late solo move. Despite the Belgian's best efforts however, he couldn't upset the sprinters and with 900m to go, he was caught. Then, the sprinters themselves took over and first to launch was Van Aert and the Red Jersey held on for a brilliant win ahead of the Green Jersey, Kaden Groves.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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And the peloton catches 🇪🇸 @xabier_isasa! The breakaway's fight is over... everything is looking ready for a sprint! 💪 🚴♂️ ¡Y el pelotón atrapa a 🇪🇸 @xabier_isasa - @euskaltelteam! Se acaba la lucha de la fuga en la etapa... 🫣 ¿Evitará alguien el sprint? #LaVuelta24
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