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United States | Midwest | Ohio >> Geniez Solos To Victory as Fernandez takes Leaders Jersey on Stage 3 of the Vuelta

Geniez Solos To Victory as Fernandez takes Leader's Jersey on Stage 3 of the Vuelta

Breakaway rider Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) solo'd to victory on te final tough clim up to Mirador de Ézaro, while Ruben Fernandez (Movistar) attacked from the Peleton and finishds in second to take the leader's red jersey. Valverde, Froome, Chaves and Quintana finish strongly, to stay in the top 5 on GC

Geniez made into the day's breakaway of seven riders that established itself after 20km of racing. With several attacks on the the first climb of Alto de Lestaio, he hung on and eventually took the KOM points and the KOM lead.

Only 3 of the seven riders including the Frenchman remained in the break as they hit the tough climb up to Mirador de Ezaro on a very hot day. He dropped his two companions on the steeper gradients. Geniez hung on for victory while the other two were swamped by the what was left in the Peloton.

Movistar's Fernandez set a high pace that split the peleton apart including Team Sky on the final climb. Those only able to hang onto Movistar's Quintana and Valverde were Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange). Without his team mates Froome rode back into contention closing the gap in the final metres.

Fernandez having done an outstaning job for Movistar's Quintana and Valverde, was allowed to go full gas to finish second, with Valverde, Froome, Chaves and Quintana finishing behind. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) finished ninth and lost some more time. Another day bad for Contador. Kruijswijk was almost 2 minutes down and is out of the GC running. USA's Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac) put in a good performance and finished well only 1m 14 secs down on Geniez's time.

Stage 3 Top 10 

1 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ 4:28:36 
2 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:21 
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:26 
4 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky   
5 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-BikeExchange   
6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:32 
7 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data   
8 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:00:54 
9 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team   
10 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step   

24. Andrew Talansky (usa) + 1.14
41. Simon Yates (gbr) + 1.41
51. Robert Gesink (nld) + 2.02
53. Steven Kruijswijk (nld) s.t.
105. Tejay van Garderen (usa) + 7.55

General classification after stage 3 Top 10

1 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 9:16:07 
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:07 
3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:11 
4 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-BikeExchange 0:00:17 
5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team   
6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:00:46 
7 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:47 
8 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky 0:00:51 
9 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:58 
10 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:01:01

VIDEO: Stage 3 Final Kilometres

VIDEO: Stage 3 Highlights

Geniez Solos To Victory as Fernandez takes Leader's Jersey on Stage 3 of the Vuelta