What a surprise! Pedersen can’t finish off Lidl-Trek’s brutal work in Vuelta stage 3, outsmarted by clever Gaudu

On Sunday, we witnessed a dramatic finale in Stage 2, where Vingegaard managed to beat Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) in a thrilling uphill sprint, taking the red jersey in the process. Just one day later, Lidl-Trek had a golden opportunity, on paper, to go for the stage win with Mads Pedersen.

Due to the short stage, Monday saw a later start, with the riders rolling out just after 2:30 p.m. A group of four quickly broke away from the peloton: Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Patrick Gamper (Jayco AlUla), Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and Luca Van Boven (Intermarché-Wanty) managed to create a small gap.

Apparently, there wasn’t much appetite for the early breakaway, as no significant battle unfolded after the quartet pulled clear. The breakaway was allowed some leeway by the peloton, with Lidl-Trek taking control at the front in support of their leader Pedersen. That said, the gap was never large, the maximum lead hovered around just two minutes.

For Alessandro Verre, Monday’s stage was important, he started the day wearing the polka dot jersey as leader of the mountain classification. On the road to the finish in Ceres, two Category 2 climbs were on the menu: the first halfway through the stage to Issiglio (5.8 km at 6.5%), and the second being the uphill finish, also rated category 2.

As expected, the pace ramped up on the first climb. Patrick Gamper was the first to lose contact, followed shortly by Luca Van Boven. Even though there were still more than 70 kilometers to go, the breakaway riders were already testing each other early on. Verre and Sean Quinn remained out front, gaining a bit more time on the peloton.

Inside the main group, the pace also picked up on the steeper sections, briefly causing some riders to lose ground, though many were able to regroup afterward. Up front, Verre reached the summit first, securing five valuable points and strengthening his grip on the mountains classification. Barring surprises, he would wear the jersey again the next day.

In Cuorgnè, the peloton arrived at the intermediate sprint shortly after breakaway riders Quinn and Verre passed through. There were still plenty of points left up for grabs, and Mads Pedersen was quick to capitalize, snagging the maximum 15 points for third place. More surprisingly, red jersey Jonas Vingegaard made an appearance too, sprinting to fourth place and earning 13 points toward the green jersey classification.

Shortly after, Verre dropped back on a small uncategorized climb, leaving Quinn alone out front. During the descent, a crash occurred involving Harold Martín López (XDS Astana) and Jardi van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost). Meanwhile, Lidl-Trek continued to push the pace on the climb, briefly putting Jasper Philipsen in trouble. However, the Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter was able to rejoin the bunch.

With 19 kilometers to go, Quinn’s solo breakaway also came to an end. The American was likely to be awarded the combativity prize, but a surprise victory in Ceres was off the table. Lidl-Trek continued to lead the peloton, having controlled the pace for most of the stage.

It was clear, however, that Jasper Philipsen wouldn't be contesting the finale. He was dropped 8 kilometers from the finish line. By then, the peloton had thinned out significantly, leaving only the strongest sprinters and general classification contenders.

Victor Campenaerts provided the lead-out for Visma | Lease a Bike, while Søren Kragh Andersen did an impressive pull on the front for his teammate Mads Pedersen. Filippo Ganna was also well-positioned by INEOS Grenadiers, thanks to solid work from Ben Turner.

The race hurtled into the final two hairpin corners at full speed. Pedersen was well launched and opened his sprint early, but he was caught off guard by David Gaudu. The Frenchman surged past in the final meters, pulling off a major surprise victory.