Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) won a two-man battle to the finish line to take the stage 3 victory at La Route d'Occitanie-La Dépêche du Midi.
The Canadian formed part of a late-race attack on the slopes of the summit finish, finishing three seconds ahead of breakaway companion Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa-Samsic) at Nistos.
Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) was part of the select chase group and finished third on the day, 12 seconds behind Woods.
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Woods now leads the overall classification by nine seconds ahead of Rodríguez and 40 seconds ahead of Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost).
"I’m really pleased with the result today. The teamwork was exceptional. Especially Stevie Williams was just amazing. I think he went extra deep for his friend Gino Mäder and it was really inspirational. The whole team rode incredibly well. I’m really proud to finish it off for the guys and to take the leader’s jersey," Woods said.
"This has already been a great race for me. It's a nice step in the right direction, and I'm really excited for the Tour now."
How it unfolded
The third stage of La Route d'Occitanie was 189km beginning in Gimont and finishing with a summit finish at Nistos. After a long ride through the valley roads, the peloton hit three successive ascents; Col de Larriu (4.7km at 6.7%), Col de Menté (10.8km at 6.4%) and then the summit to Nistos-Cap Nestes (7.9km at 8.4%) to the finish line.
An early breakaway formed that included Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2r Citroen Team), Celestin Guillon (van Rysel-Roubaix Lille Metropole), Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Team Arkea-Samsic), Fabien Doubey (Total Energies), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Théo Delacroix (ST Michel-Mavic–Auber93), Joris Delbove (ST Michel-Mavic-Auber93), Maxime Urruty (Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur), Josu Etxeberria Azpilikueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Burgos-bh), Sandy Dujardin (Total Energies) and Thomas Boudat (Van Rysel -Roubaix Lille Metropole).
The large group gained over five minutes on the main peloton. However, the breakaway lost one rider as Rodriguez sat up and returned to the peloton.
As the breakaway hit the final climbs, it lost several riders and was reduced to just eight, with the gap dropping to under three minutes as Movistar led the peloton behind.
Israel Premier Tech took over the pace-setting as a reduced field entered the Col de Menté, under two minutes behind the breakaway. With Movistar and Israel Premier Tech controlling the gap, it dropped to under a minute ahead of the final ascent.
Catching the remnants of the early breakaway, a select group of climbers formed on the lower slopes of the Nistos-Cap Nestes, where Woods surged, and only Rodriguez could follow.
Woods and Rodríguez found themselves alone in pursuit of the stage victory. The pair held a promising lead on the eight chasers and nearly a minute ahead of the main group.
The chase behind included Jesús Herrada and Victor Lafay (Cofidis), Iván Ramiro Sosa, Ruben Guerreiro and Einer Augusto Rubio (Movistar), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Woods' teammate Domenico Pozzovivo. The chase never made it back up to the two leaders.
Woods made his winning move inside the final few hundred metres, at the top of the ascent, taking the win by three seconds, as Rodríguez was forced to settle for second.
The race continues with the stage 4 final from Saint-Gaudens to Saint-Girons on Sunday.
Results
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