In a slightly uphill finish, David Gaudu won the third stage of the 2025 Vuelta a España. On the final climb to Ceres (2.5 km at 3.2%), the Frenchman from Groupama-FDJ was the strongest on an uphill finish, surprising the favorites.
The Frenchman won the 134.6-kilometer stage, held this Monday in Italy. Dane Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) finished second, and the leader, Scandinavian Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), finished third.
The stage was divided into two distinct parts: the first half was completely flat, and the finish, after overcoming a second-category climb, covered rough, winding terrain with several unscored slopes that could easily be scored.
The stage’s breakaway was somewhat more closely contested than in previous days, but in the end, it was more of the same. This time, the Lidl-Trek riders were tasked with deciding how the stage would play out. After a small group of four set off: Sean Quinn, Patrick Gamper, Alessandro Verre, and Luca Van Boven. They decided that this was the perfect number to easily control and blocked the attacks, depriving us of the spectacle we see in other races with a first or even second hour of fiercely contested attacks, with dozens of attacks.
Once again, the Latin American riders played a leading role, led by the Colombians. They didn’t look out of place and were in the fight with Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain – Victorious) in seventh place and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) in eighth place, both of whom didn’t lose time on the favorites. David Gaudu tied for the overall standings with Jonas Vingegaard, although the results of the first stage, based on previous placings, meant the Visma-Lease a Bike rider would once again wear the red leader’s jersey for the fourth segment of the Vuelta a España.
The Iberian Tour continues this Tuesday with the third leg, a 206.7-kilometer leg-breaking stage between Sousse and Voiron, in France, with a flat finish.
La Vuelta Ciclista a España (2.UWT)
Results Stage 3 | San Maurizio Canavese – Ceres (134,6 km)
| 1 | David Gaudu | Groupama-FDJ | 2:59:24 |
| 2 | Mads Pedersen | Lidl-Trek | m.t. |
| 3 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | m.t. |
| 4 | Giulio Ciccone | Lidl-Trek | m.t. |
| 5 | Jordan Labrosse | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | m.t. |
| 6 | Orluis Aular | Movistar Team | m.t. |
| 7 | Santiago Buitrago | Bahrain Victorious | m.t. |
| 8 | Egan Bernal | INEOS Grenadiers | m.t. |
| 9 | Bjoern Koerdt | Team Picnic PostNL | m.t. |
| 10 | Jai Hindley | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | m.t. |
Ranking General
| 1 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 10:55:36 |
| 2 | David Gaudu | Groupama-FDJ | m.t. |
| 3 | Giulio Ciccone | Lidl-Trek | 0:08 |
| 4 | Egan Bernal | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:14 |
| 5 | Tom Pidcock | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 0:16 |
| 6 | Jai Hindley | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 0:16 |
| 7 | Santiago Buitrago | Bahrain Victorious | 0:16 |
| 8 | Matteo Jorgenson | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 0:16 |
| 9 | Juan Ayuso | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 0:16 |
| 10 | Valentin Paret-Peintre | Soudal Quick-Step | 0:16 |