Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took the victory on stage 3 of the Vuelta Asturias, prevailing in a sprint from a reduced group in Vegadeo.
The Italian beat out Jordi López (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Iván García Cortina (Movistar) to the line at the end of the 165.5km stage, a challenging day but one which saw its final climb come 50km from the finish.
Along the way, the riders would tackle the first-category Alto de la Bobia (16.3km at 2.4%) and the third-category Alto de la Garganta (8.1km at 3.6%), over which a breakaway would lead the race.
The breakaway riders would be caught before the finish, setting up a reduced bunch sprint in time for the finish. It was García Cortina who started the dash for the finish first, before López and Covi flew in time for the line.
The win is the 32nd of the season for Covi's team, which has now racked up more than double the second-ranked squad on the 2025 win list, Lidl-Trek. His teammate, Marc Soler, continues in the race lead heading into Sunday's final stage to Oviedo.
Soler's nearest challengers on the 135.6km route – featuring four climbs and 2,500 metres of ascent – for the overall win are Hugo de la Calle (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) at 1:51 and Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 1:53. All other GC riders lie over three minutes off the race lead.
Results
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