The third stage of the Tour of Catalonia took the field to the Pyrenees. With the Alt de la Creueta and the climb to the finish line in the mountain village of La Molina, there were two demanding mountains on the program. The low temperatures made things even more difficult. The Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) coped best with it. He got the better of Albert Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) with a solid start in the last kilometer.
Thanks to his stage win, Rodriguez also takes over the general classification from Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano), who won the first two stages.
A group around the German Michel Koch (Cannondale) broke away from the field early on. Koch's aim was to win the first intermediate sprint in order to defend his lead in this classification. Together with four other drivers, he was then able to continuously increase his lead to over six minutes. At almost 2000 meters high Alt de la Creueta, however, this began to sink.
Seven kilometers from the finish, the group of favorites around last year's winner Dan Martin (Gramin Sharp), Rodriguez and Co. with Kevin Reza (Europcar) was the last remaining leader. Then it took another four kilometers until Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) dared to attack as the first well-known cyclist. But while his attack was unsuccessful, the start of the reigning Tour winner Chris Froome (Sky) finally blew up the field. On his rear wheel followed Contador and Rodriguez, who in the end gave his competitors no chance with his start.
Result
1. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 4:50:54
2. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) 0:00:05
3. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 0:00:09
4.Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 0:00:11
5. Christopher Froome (Sky) 0:00:13
Total
1. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 12:58:00
2. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) 0:00:05
3. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 0:00:09
4.Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 0:00:11
5. Christopher Froome (Sky) 0:00:13