Vuelta Femenina: Vos wins rapid third stage as crosswinds hit Deignan hopes

The Vuelta Femenina’s overall leader, Marianne Vos, won a dramatic and fast-paced third stage but Lizzie Deignan lost ground as crosswinds caused chaos.

The day was raced at blistering speeds, with the lead group completing the 158km in under three-and-a-half hours. Vos (Jumbo-Visma) was first over the line in the red jersey, beating stage two winner Charlotte Kool (Team-DSM) and Chloe Dygert (Canyon–SRAM) in a sprint.

Deignan and her Trek-Segafredo team were the big losers on the day, getting left behind on the road north from Elche de la Sierra to La Roda and losing two minutes and 41 seconds in the overall standings.

The British rider put in a big turn to try to pace her team leaders, Gaia Realini and Amanda Spratt, back but could not bridge the gap to the leading groups. This was the fastest Women’s World Tour stage ever, raced at an average speed of 45.6km/h.

“We were not so far off yesterday and knew there would be another chance,” Vos said. “But it was quite a hard day with the crosswinds. I am grateful to my team for bringing me into this position, and happy that I could finish it off.”

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Vos leads the general classification by 13 seconds from Dygert, with Vos’s Jumbo-Visma colleague, Riejanne Markus, a further second back. Britain’s Anna Henderson, also of Jumbo-Visma, remains fourth, 22 seconds down.