At first glance, stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina finished in the expected mass sprint, but the final 30km of the stage saw plenty of action with echelons and crashes. Several GC contenders lost minutes while others were saved by the 3km rule.
Ane Santesteban (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), instantly noticeable in the polka-dot mountain jersey, was involved in a first crash with 50km to go. The Basque climber could return to the peloton, but her troubles were far from over.
In the crosswinds after the intermediate sprint in Tramaced, climbers like Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck), Olivia Baril (Movistar), Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Clara Koppenburg (Cofidis) lost contact with the peloton, eventually forming a chase group.
The hectic atmosphere with everybody trying to stay near the front of the race led to another crash 20.5km from the finish. Santesteban went down again, as did Mona Mitterwallner (Human Powered Health), Alena Ivanchenko (UAE Team ADQ), and Elisa Valtulini (BePink-Imatra-Bongioanni).
Mitterwallner suffered injuries to her face and left shoulder, which hindered her chase back, and the 23-year-old Austrian would eventually finish 4:34 minutes down. Santesteban was unhurt but ended up in the same group as Rooijakkers, Baril, Bunel, and Koppenburg, finishing 3:45 minutes down. This group also included Valentina Cavallar (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Romina Hinojosa (Lotto), among others.
The crash had also caused a split in the peloton with Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal), and Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered Health) among the dropped riders. They had to fight hard but made it back to the peloton with 15km to go.
Last but not least, the streets of Huesca saw a mass crash just after the 2km mark that held up a large part of the peloton. Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez) received a wound near her eyebrows that required stitches, and her teammate Évita Muzic was also held up, as were Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), Marlen Reusser (Movistar), and Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ). Since this crash took place within the last 3km of the stage, the riders involved were given the same time as the stage winner, escaping any time loss.
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our La Vuelta Femenina coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from one of the biggest women's stage races of the season. Find out more.
