Chris Froome became the new leader of the Vuelta a España on Monday after finishing third in the mountainous third stage as the Italian Vincenzo Nibali snatched the stage win in the final 400m of the race in the Pyrenees in Andorra.
Froome, who is bidding to become the first rider to do a double of the Tour de France and the Vuelta in 39 years, set a vicious pace on the final climb of the 158.5km stage, chaperoned by his team‑mate Gianni Moscon, although he was eventually caught on the descent.
The Briton has taken a two-second lead in the general classification over the Spaniard David de la Cruz, the Irishman Nicolas Roche and the American Tejay Van Garderen. Nibali, who won the Vuelta in 2010, is fifth, 10sec behind the four-times Tour de France champion.
“It’s a great surprise but I think it’s the result of a lot of hard work today from my team mates as well,” Froome said. “They did a fantastic job on the final climb, especially a guy like Gianni Moscon – it’s his first Grand Tour with Team Sky. He was great today, as were the rest of the guys.”
Froome got to wear the Vuelta’s red jersey for only the second time, the first since he upstaged Bradley Wiggins with a shock win in the individual time trial in 2011 and came second in the general classification.
Froome recalled his 2011 performance when explaining why he had pushed so hard in stage three. “I’ve lost a Vuelta before by 13 seconds so I’m going to fight for every second I can at this point.
“It’s been a long time [without wearing the red jersey]. It feels amazing to put it back on and to be in this position. It’s something I’ve thought about for a long time and obviously I worked hard to be here after the Tour, so I’m really happy to be in this position.”
Axel Domont took a 25sec lead over the escapees and a 4:40 lead over the peloton into the final 50km but the Frenchman’s advantage rapidly eroded in the second climb. Sky surged ahead in the final climb, led by Moscon with Froome on his wheel, with his fellow general classification contenders Fabio Aru, Daniel Chaves and Nibali close behind although Alberto Contador was unable to sustain the pace.
The Spaniard trails Froome by 3:10, all but blowing his chance of an overall win in his final professional race before retirement.
Froome led at the top of the climb with Chaves on his wheel but the pair were caught by Romain Bardet and Aru on the descent, with Nibali and Roche joining them in the final 700m. Roche made a futile attempt at breakaway as Froome slowed, but Nibali timed his attack to take the stage and 10 bonus seconds. De La Cruz finished second, taking six bonus seconds along with Froome.
The Vuelta moves into Spain on Tuesday, a 198.2km route from Escaldes-Engordany in Andorra to Tarragona, Catalonia.