Lukaš Kubiš retains second place on GC with runner-up finish to race leader
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) extended his GC lead and hold of the blue jersey with a victory on stage 3 at Tour of Denmark(Image credit: Getty Images)
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) extended his lead in the Tour of Denmark with a third consecutive stage victory on a rainy stage 3 to Vejle.
The Belgian powered away from challenger Lukaš Kubiš (Unibet Rose Rockets) on the uphill run, while his teammate Christophe Laporte trailed for third on the stage.
The victory gives Van Aert a 20-second lead over Kubiš in the general classification.
After a standard early breakaway, the stage really began to heat up with 60km to go after the move was down to just one rider, Andreas Stockbro (ColoQuick) and within a minute of the chasing peloton.
Visma-Lease a Bike put in a huge surge of pace to try and split up the field with 57km to go, but Ashlin Barry slid out in a roundabout as he was leading the charge, forcing Van Aert to go off-roading to avoid the fall. The race leader got back underway quickly after changing bikes with Menno Huising.
Then, as the gap to Stockbro came down further, Matyas Kopecky (Unibet Rose Rockets), Marcus Hansen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm) and William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility) came across with 48km to go to breathe new life into the breakaway.
The leaders were finally caught with 20km to go, and Visma-Lease a Bike again surged, this time using a small climb to cause splits throughout the peloton before Van Aert made his move with 17km to go.
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Van Aert was joined by sprint rival Lukaš Kubiš (Unibet Rose Rockets). They were joined by Uno-X Mobility rider Alexander Kamp and Van Aert's teammate Laporte with 13.5km to go.
At the start of the final lap, six more riders made it across: Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek), Pier-André Côté (NSN), Levy and Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X), Francisco Muñoz (Polti-VisitMalta) and Matyaš Kopecký (Unibet).
Uno-X Mobility led into the final kilometre but Van Aert accelerated past them with Kubiš on his wheel and Laporte right behind. Kubiš kicked past the Belgian but as Laporte faded, Van Aert surged again and soloed to another stage win.
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
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