Vuelta a Burgos: Landa wins on Picon Blanco

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Sky's Mikel Landa nabbed his second stage win in three days at Vuelta a Burgos, climbing to victory at Picón Blanco on Thursday's stage 3 and extending his overall race lead.

After riding together with Quick-Step's David de la Cruz over most of the last 2.5 kilometres, the 27-year-old left his fellow Spaniard behind rounding the final corners and surged to the win at the uphill finish. De la Cruz crossed the line a few seconds later, with Quick-Step teammate Enric Mas taking third on the day.

Sky dictated the tempo for much of the afternoon, whittling away at the peloton as they closed down the day's main breakaway. Early escapee Gatis Smukulis (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) stayed clear solo until reaching the challenging final climb, where he was caught with 6.3 kilometres to go to set up a battle among the overall contenders. Landa proved strongest on the ascent.

He now enjoys a 27-second GC lead with De la Cruz sitting second overall and Mas in third, 46 seconds back.

Under hot, sunny conditions in north-central Spain, the lumpy 173-kilometre stage saw a breakaway jump clear inside the first 10 kilometres of racing.

10 riders formed the initial move: Smukulis, Dorian Godon (Cofidis, Solutions Credits), Bernardo Suaza (Manzana Postobon), Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport), Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Team Dimension Data), Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), Martijn Budding (Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij), Pieter Serry (Quick-Step Floors) and Jorge Cubero (Burgos-BH).

A Sky-led peloton gave the breakaway some breathing room on the first few climbs of the days six total, allowing the escapees to push their advantage to around three minutes. The gap hovered there or thereabouts as the break rolled through the midpoint of the stage before Smukulis made his move on the third-category Alto de Ailanes, the third climb of the day.

The Latvian quickly left the other escapees behind and opened a sizable gap, working to a four-minute advantage over the peloton as the kilometres ticked down.

With Sky setting a torrid tempo in the pack leading into the stage finale, however, the riders up the road began to see their advantage evaporate. With 10 kilometres to go, the pack was within a minute of reeling in all but Smukulis. His former breakaway companions were all caught in short order, leaving him solo off the front, but not for much longer, with the road pitching up steeply towards the finish.

With 6.3 kilometres to go, the peloton swept up Smulkulis, leaving the stage win up for grabs among the GC hopefuls.

Sky's pace shelled one rider after another out the back of a rapidly shrinking pack, and with 4.3 kilometres to go, the lead group was down to just six riders: Landa and Sky teammate Gianni Moscon, De la Cruz, Mas, Astana's Miguel Ángel López and Caja Rural's Jaime Roson.

Four kilometres from the finish, Mas jumped off the front. No one in the lead group made any serious effort to follow, with Moscon simply tapping out a rhythm on the front to keep the gap small.

Mas worked his advantage to around 15 seconds but could not open the gap any further, with the chasers keeping him on a short leash. 3.2 kilometres from the finish, Moscon pulled off the front and dropped out of the group, leaving Landa to chase by himself. As the race leader took up the pace, Mas' advantage disappeared in a matter of moments. Still, Landa did not let up, dropping all but De la Cruz off his wheel.

The duo forged on up the final climb together, gradually building their advantage over a trio of Roson, López and Mas but more or less cooperating over the final two kilometres until the last 300 metres, when De la Cruz put in a sharp dig to pull past Landa. The Sky rider was not to be denied however, countering moments later to put De la Cruz into the rearview mirror for good and take the stage victory.

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