Kerbaol's cunning move leaves the peloton standing, Kopecky second again

Cédrine Kerbaol has won stage three of the Vuelta Femenina. The EF Education-Oatly Frenchwoman slipped clear with a smart late attack in a draining finale and held off the charging favourites group to the line. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) finished second, ahead of Sarah Van Dam (Visma | Lease a Bike). Franziska Koch (FDJ-SUEZ) narrowly retained the race lead.

The Vuelta Femenina has already been defined by chaos and misfortune. Marianne Vos crashed out after a single day with a broken collarbone. Then, on stage two, race leader Noemi Rüegg went down and broke her shoulder. Koch picked up the red jersey from the wreckage, while Shari Bossuyt claimed an emotional stage win.

Stage three promised more drama, and it delivered. The final 20 kilometres into A Coruña featured no flat ground — just a relentless series of short rises and technical roads. In the opening phase, Sterre Vervloet (Lotto-Intermarché) jumped clear, joined by Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (Lidl-Trek). A chase group made attempts to bridge but could not get across. The pair built their lead on a very wet day, though a crash involving Urška Zigart and Paula Blasi — with around 60 kilometres to go — brought a moment of concern. Fortunately both were able to continue.

Wilson-Haffenden felt clearly stronger and went solo from around 40 kilometres out. The Australian held on for a long time, but the difficult finale was already beginning to bite. The peloton was growing thinner by the kilometre.

Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Premier Tech), sharp in the opening two stages, suffered mechanical trouble at the worst possible moment. Kopecky collected intermediate sprint points and bonus seconds along the way before the climbing began in earnest. Wilson-Haffenden was caught, and it was Kasia Niewiadoma who made the first proper acceleration. Not explosive enough to split the race wide open, but enough to cause a selection.

Around 15 riders emerged as the strongest climbers. But with the favourites watching each other, a larger group came back together. On the summit of the penultimate climb, red jersey Koch cracked badly and was dropped. She was fortunate to claw her way back in the descent — but the finale was not over.

It was Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) who next made her characteristic move. She was brought back by Eva van Agt, working in Koch's service. Further attacks from Niewiadoma, and from the Visma | Lease a Bike camp, whittled the front group down again. Koch was back in — and so, having briefly been dropped, was Kopecky.

The real climbing was done, but a cobbled section waited in the final kilometres. Around 30 riders went over it together. EF Education-Oatly wanted to shed the pure sprinters. After an acceleration from Alice Towers, her team-mate Cédrine Kerbaol went — and got a gap with two kilometres to go.

Could she be caught? Lidl-Trek took responsibility for the chase, but the downhill run into the finish played straight into the Frenchwoman's hands. She only extended her lead. Kerbaol won the stage. The sprinters arrived too late: Kopecky crossed second, Van Dam third.

In the general classification, Koch held on by the narrowest of margins — two seconds ahead of Kopecky and four ahead of Kerbaol.