Andrew August stays ahead of two Belgians in stage three of the Tour of Valencia
Andrew August won the third stage of the Tour of Valencia. The American broke away in the final stretch of the stage alongside Jonathan Vervenne, Adne Holter, and Florian Vermeersch, managing to hold them off in San Vicente del Raspeig.
The third stage of the Tour of Valencia looked tougher on paper than it actually was. With forty kilometers remaining, the climb of Puerto de Tibi (7.5 kilometers at 5.5%) was the key challenge, but it turned out to be just not difficult enough to create significant gaps.
In the early breakaway on Friday, we saw the Dutch rider Danny van der Tuuk, who, along with Matteo Fabbro, Mattia Bais, Raul Garcia Pierna, Diego Uriarte, Pablo Garcia, and José Antonio Prieto, went up the road early and defended a lead of about three minutes on the peloton for a long time.
At the foot of the Puerto de Tibi, the break still held a two-minute advantage over the peloton, but steadily, that lead began to shrink. With three kilometers to the summit, Van der Tuuk and Garcia Pierna decided to attack. The Euskaltel rider and Spaniard crossed the top of the climb first and second but were quickly caught thereafter.
In the hilly section that followed, the favorites began to play their game. Brandon McNulty, who had crashed earlier in the stage, launched a probing attack, while Remco Evenepoel also showed himself several times. Ultimately, Andrew August and Florian Vermeersch succeeded in breaking away from the peloton. Later, they were joined by Jonathan Vervenne and Adne Holter. Were they on their way to victory?
The finale became very tense, as the NSN Cycling Team was eager to contest a sprint with Biniam Girmay once again. The four managed to hold on by a narrow margin: after a long sprint, August succeeded in claiming the win ahead of the frustrated Belgians who had done most of the work.
