Favorites stage 3 Vuelta a España 2025 | Keeping the focus in the hairpin turns

We start on day three in San Maurizio Canavese. The Vuelta organizers have opted for a relatively short stage of around 134 kilometers, which the riders are expected to complete in around three hours.

The first sixty kilometers are relatively flat, before the first obstacle of the day looms with the Issiglio. This is 5.8 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 6.5 percent, which is good for a second category ranking. After the descent, the intermediate sprint is on the program.

The riders then head towards the finish in Ceres, located in Piedmont, on hilly roads. The last 25 kilometers climb steadily, with the last 2.6 kilometers designated as an official climb. Until 600 meters from the finish, the road is slightly flat, after which it climbs at 5.8 percent.

What makes it extra difficult is the presence of three hairpin bends in these final kilometers. At 800, 500, and 100 meters from the finish, the peloton will be stretched out, forcing the GC contenders to position themselves further forward than they would have to in a straight finish. In 2023, a stage of the Giro Donne finished at exactly the same location.

Climbs
65,8 km: Issiglio (5,8 km a 6,5%)
134.6 km: Ceres (2.5 km at 3.2%)

Times
Start: 2:27 PM local time (08:27 AM EDT)
Finish: around 5:20 PM local time (11:20 AM EDT)

There is not much wind on Monday in Piedmont, where temperatures are around 15 degrees Celsius.

If Mads Pedersen were to map out a final, the finish in Ceres would be very close. A long run-up to a steadily climbing final kilometer, in which lactic acid slowly builds up in the legs? Ideal for the Dane and his strong Lidl-Trek team, who already took control on Sunday towards Limone Piemonte for Giulio Ciccone.

For pure sprinters – such as Casper van Uden/Elia Viviani – this seems a little too harsh. Still, a strong Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) should be able to handle it in theory. If that doesn't work out, lead-out Edward Planckaert is another good option for the Belgian team.

On day one, Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) and Orluis Aular (Movistar) joined Philipsen on the podium, and we also include them in the list of talented sprinters.

There are plenty more in this Vuelta, with Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ), Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost), Thomas Guillermo Silva (Caja Rural), Nicolo Buratti (Bahrain Victorious), and Vernon's teammate Jake Stewart.

Q36.5 has been in good spirits for two days now and also has two good options in Tom Pidcock and Fabio Christen, while INEOS Grenadiers will probably play the Ben Turner card because Filippo Ganna did not start the race in good shape. On day two, we also saw Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike) crash.

The GC contenders will also have to be careful, because a gap can easily open up with those three hairpin turns, and time loss must be avoided. Men like Jonas Vingegaard could therefore easily finish at the front.

Top favorites: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Outsiders: Orluis Aular (Movistar), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis)
Long shots: Fabio Christen (Q36.5), Thomas Guillermo Silva (Caja Rural), Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Ethan Vernon, Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) and Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost)