Jonas Vingegaard maintained his overall lead of the Vuelta a España yesterday, finishing third on stage three after a fraught 24 hours in which his Visma-Lease a Bike team discovered the theft of several bikes from an equipment truck.
Vingegaard seemed largely unaffected, finishing on the wheels of second-placed Mads Pedersen and the stage winner, David Gaudu, after an uphill sprint at the end of the first medium-mountain stage of the race, a 139km ride from San Maurizio Canavese to Ceres in Italy.
Gaudu, who was third on Sunday, climbs to second place in the general classification after picking up 10 bonus seconds, while Pedersen’s teammate Giulio Ciccone finished fourth and is third overall.
“I was thinking in the bus this morning it was more for Pedersen, but [teammate Stefan] Kung said to me I have a punch and I can win today,” Gaudu said after his first Vuelta stage win since 2020. “I’m very happy. I’m very, very proud to win for me, for the team. This is, I think, the best start to the Vuelta we could get.”
Before the stage, Vingegaard’s Team Visma-Lease a Bike said police in Italy were investigating the theft of “several bikes” from an equipment truck. “Last night, our mechanics’ truck was broken into and several bikes were stolen,” the team said in a statement. “Our mechanics are working hard to ensure that the team is fully prepared for the third stage. The police have launched an investigation into the incident.”
Vingegaard was also missing the support of Axel Zingle, after the French cyclist was in a crash on Sunday in the rain-hit stage that also caught up the team leader. Vingegaard went on to win with a bloodied elbow, but an injury from the crash has forced Zingle to abandon the race.
Visma said: “Our medical team had to decide that Axel Zingle is not fit enough to continue the Vuelta. His first Grand Tour with the team comes to an early end.”
