Pozzovivo takes 2nd place in Burgos stage 3 – Aru also impresses as the Italian duo climb the GC
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Romain Bardet (Team DSM) won stage 3 of the Vuelta a Burgos, crossing the line solo, with Domenico Pozzovivo (Team Qhubeka NextHash) (www.TeamQhubeka.com) leading the chase group home and taking 2nd place, Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) finished 3rd.
Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Burgos presented the first real test to the contenders for the general classification as the riders had to face the famous climb of Picon Blanco. The full stage covered 173 km, Picon Blanco culminating at just 18 km from the finish, followed by a technical descent to the line.
An early breakaway went well in the first kilometers of the stage, but the peloton had no problem controlling the gap, ensuring that the breakaways were caught on the climb.
Ineos-Grenadiers and EF-Education picked up the pace on the lower slopes of the climb, but it was an acceleration from Fabio Aru that really put the pressure, resulting in a refinement of the main group. Giro d’Italia winner Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers) then tried to control the pace of their protected rider Pavel Sivakov, but new attacks soon followed.
Aru and Pozzovivo rode well in tandem, following the movements until only 11 riders remained in contention 3 km from the top of the climb. It became quite tactical on the last kilometers uphill but it was Bardet who launched a revealing attack just before the summit and took a 15 ‘gap.
Pozzovivo was part of the first chase group with three other riders, Landa (Bahrain-Victorious), Nieve (Bike-Exchange) and Bouchard (AG2R Citroën), at the start of the descent. Aru followed a few seconds behind in the 2nd chase group.
Bardet came down like a rocket and extended his lead to 35 ″ over the Pozzovivo pursuit group. There was a big scare for Pozzovivo when Bouchard crashed in front of him in one of the many corners, but our Italian managed to stay upright and resumed the chase.
Bardet also slipped very close to the bottom of the descent but wasted hardly any time with an impressive and quick comeback. The Frenchman kept his gap on the line, winning a very good stage victory. Pozzovivo led the 3-rider home pursuit group to take 2nd place on the stage.
Aru would end up in the next group of chasers, just 11 ″ behind the Pozzovivo group, and sprint in 7th place on the stage. The solid performances of our Italian duo allowed Pozzovivo to climb to 3rd place in the general classification and Aru to 4th.
Domenico Pozzovivo
“Today was a stage that suited me better than the first two windy stages. On the last climb we did a good job, with Fabio it’s only Bardet who took Landa and me to the top and we know he’s very strong on the descent. I tried to avoid taking too many risks on the descent. Me, Landa and Nieve tried to get back to Bardet but he was very strong, even on the flat. Finally, I was happy to finish 2nd with a good sprint because it is not my best skill. We are now confidently awaiting our form for the last mountain stage and also for the Vuelta a Espana. “
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the Qhubeka NextHash team.
Media contact:
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About the Qhubeka NextHash team:
The Qhubeka NextHash team is a goal-driven high performance team, fighting to win on the world’s biggest stage, to inspire hope and create opportunity. Founded in 2007, Team Qhubeka NextHash (formerly NTT Pro Cycling) became the first African cycling team to win a UCI WorldTour license, in 2016.
We had our first major victory in 2013 when Gerald Ciolek won Milan-San Remo, one of the five monuments of cycling. We have participated in six Tour de France and won 7 stage victories, with Mark Cavendish wearing the coveted Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France 2016.
We are a multicultural and diverse team with bases in South Africa, the Netherlands and Italy. There are 19 nationalities represented in our World Tour and Continental Feeder team rosters. Our focus on the development of African cycling has enabled more than 55 riders from the African continent to be offered the opportunity to race on the world stage since the inception of the team.
We run to help people get ahead with cycling through our relationship with Qhubeka Charity. Through our work with Qhubeka, we have helped distribute over 30,000 bikes to communities across South Africa.
About Qhubeka:
Qhubeka is a charity that gets people moving with bikes. People are gaining bicycles through our programs, improving their access to schools, clinics and jobs.
A bicycle is a tool that helps people travel faster, farther, and carry more. In the face of extreme and persistent poverty, bikes can change lives by helping tackle socio-economic challenges at the most basic level – helping people get to where they need to go.
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