Stage 3 of the Vuelta a España was cancelled on the final climb, with race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) taking on the role of patron amid the torrential downpour of hailstones.
The drama occurred just over 15km from the line in Font Romeu, with several riders pulling to the side of the road to seek shelter as large hailstones pounded down from a leaden sky.
Shortly after, Pogačar appeared at the head of what was by then a reduced peloton and imposed himself on proceedings. He dictated a slower tempo and then waved his arm in the air in a signal to slow down.
After a short while, he pointed to the left, indicating a turn off of the course, which was taken by the rest of the riders in the group.
There was a building of some sort there, which opened its doors to the riders, who all piled in to shelter from the storm.
As team cars and staff caught up with the riders, they started to put jackets and layers on, as uncertainty spread about what would happen from there.
After less than 10 minutes, the race organisation decided to cancel the stage altogether.
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There were two breakaway riders just ahead of the peloton at the time of Pogačar's intervention – Mats Wenzel (Kern Pharma) and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana) – and it's not clear when or how they received instructions to stop racing.
Jordi Meeus (Image credit: Getty Images)
From there, team buses headed from the finish line area down the mountain towards the buildings where the riders were taking refuge, in order to collect them and take them to their hotels. The organisation decided to scrap the post-stage podium ceremony, so Pogačar and the other classification leaders did not have to travel up the mountain.
We are waiting to hear from riders but it would appear that they took matters into their own hands, with Pogačar being particularly influential.
Even before Pogačar had orchestrated a stop, riders who had little interest in the stage or GC were heading off course to find available shelter. And then Pogačar ensured a situation whereby everything stopped.
At that point, it seemed like a temporary halt, but with riders scattered over the mountain and no easy way to re-start the race with the proper time gaps, not to mention the continuing hailstorm, the organisers thought it right to call off the whole thing entirely.
"For the security of the riders, stage three has been cancelled due to hail and severe weather," read a statement from the race organisation. "There will be no winner and no podium ceremony."
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Patrick is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish) and a decade’s experience in digital sports media, largely within the world of cycling. He re-joined Cyclingnews as Deputy Editor in February 2026, having previously spent eight years on staff between 2015 and 2023. In between, he was Deputy Editor at GCN and spent 18 months working across the sports portfolio at Future before returning to the cycling press pack. Patrick works across Cyclingnews’ wide-ranging output, assisting the Editor in global content strategy, with a particular focus on shaping CN's news operation.
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