Vuelta a Espana: Geniez wins on Mirador de Ézaro

Image 1 of 47

Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) claimed the second Vuelta a Espana stage win after claiming victory on stage 3 atop the Mirador de Ézaro. Geniez was the last man standing of a breakaway that went clear in the opening kilometres of the stage.

Movistar's Ruben Fernandez got permission to attack from his two leaders and followed Geniez in for second place at 21 seconds back, enough to secure him the race lead. His teammate Alejandro Valverde come home in third five seconds later with Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) for company.

Geniez made it into the breakaway in the opening 20 kilometres along with six other riders on what was a blisteringly hot day for all involved. He was initially distanced by several attacks on the first climb of the day the Alto de Lestaio but he fought back to mop up the points for the lead of the mountains classification.

The Frenchman looked by far the strongest of the three that remained out front when they hit the final climb, dropping his two companions before launching his bid for glory just before the toughest section of the ascent. As the other escapees were mopped up by what remained of the peloton, Geniez hung on for victory.

Behind, Movistar appeared in control of the situation as Fernandez's pace caused fractures in the group. Those able to hang on initially were Quintana, Valverde and Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange). Team Sky were nowhere to be seen but Froome dragged himself back into contention in the final metres of the climb, while others such as Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) gave away time. With the line in sight, Fernandez was given the green light to head up the road, giving him the glory of wearing the red jersey for at least a day, while Valverde now sits in second place at seven seconds.

How it happened

There was plenty of climbing to consider in the latter part of the stage but the first challenge for the riders to contend with was the scorching heat. The potential for a breeze off the Atlantic would be a comforting thought for some. Michal Kwiatkowski was the new holder of the red jersey for the day after taking it from his teammate Peter Kennaugh at the end of stage 2.

The riders were given a military escort through the neutral zone before the flag dropped after almost nine kilometres. Interest in making the day's break was high, with a spot in the mountains jersey a high possibility and the lure of a stage win always there. After plenty of action, a serious move began to form with over 10 kilometres of racing done.

Gatis Smukulis and Simon Pellaud (both IAM Cycling), Jerome Cousin (Cofidis) and David Arroyo (Caja Rural) kicked off the move soon after an eight-man attack was brought to heel. Alexandre Geniez (FDJ), Pieter Serry (Etixx - Quick Step) and Rudiger Selig (Bora-Argon18) soon joined them to bring their number to seven in total.

With everything still relatively close in the overall standings, most of the escapees were a threat of some form to the leader's jersey. They were given little more than five minutes to work with as Team Sky set the pace in the main bunch with Tinkoff sitting close in their wheels.

The opening half of the 174km stage was reasonably flat with a few unclassified, but steep, climbs dotted along the way. The third category Alto de Lestaio at the 109km point kicked off the most challenging part of the day and sparked the first big moves from the breakaway group. Cofidis' Cousin struck out on the steep and narrow ascent, bringing Pellaud in his wheel. The two quickly distanced some of the flagging companions who were not as well suited to the gradients that they faced.

First Serry and then Geniez clawed their way back up to the pair but no sooner had the later made contact he was in trouble again as Pellaud upped the pace. Geniez came back again but the young Pellaud was already well on his way to taking the full complement of points at the top of the climb and move himself into equal first place in that competition with Geniez close behind.

Geniez steps up

Rather than sit up and wait for his companions to join him and help him make the juncture to the next ascent, Pellaud decided to go it alone. The Swiss man got heartbreakingly close to claiming the points at the top of the second climb the Alto das Paxareiras when he was caught by Serry and Geniez with 22km to go.

Geniez and Serry would go on to battle it for the maximum points with Geniez edging out the Etixx-QuckStep rider by the tiniest of margins. Pellaud would mop up the final point but Geniez had done enough to secure the mountains jersey for FDJ for another day. Behind, the peloton finally began setting up their own chase and cut the gap to 3:30 by the top of the ascent. The pace would prove too much for Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and he lost touch on the Paxareiras.

Pellaud would make it back to the two out front and the three still held over three minutes with less than 10 kilometres to go. However, a headwind would make their task a much trickier prospect. Meanwhile, Astana's main man Miguel Angel Lopez suffered a heavily fall in the bunch on a straight stretch of road. The Colombian came down on his front and took some time to get going again, losing precious time as he got himself back to his feet.

At the start of the day, most wouldn't have given a breakaway a chance at taking victory with plenty more interest behind in the bunch, but with still over two minutes the gap as they it the final climb they could sense the victory coming. There was a sense of panic in the bunch indicated the by the sight of race leader Kwiatkowski leading the group up the opening metres of the ascent.

Geniez had looked in trouble earlier in the day but he appeared the strongest when the race hit the 30 per cent gradients of the final climb. As big a presence they had in the opening metres, Team Sky were nowhere to be seen when the climb got tough as Movistar took up the pace setting, splitting the group to pieces. Big losers in the split were Contador and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo).

Fernandez was the key player for Movistar and he was rewarded with his hard work with an opportunity to attack and take the leader's jersey while Geniez held on for the stage victory.

Full Results