Vuelta a Espana: Ruben Fernandez leads while Alexandre Geniez takes stage
Sky had held the red jersey after each of the opening two stages, first through Kennaugh and then Kwiatkowski
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Alexandre Geniez won stage three of the Vuelta a Espana as Team Sky handed over the race leader's red jersey to Spaniard Ruben Fernandez of Movistar.
Frenchman Geniez, racing for FDJ, took victory atop the brutal Mirador de Ezaro as the sole survivor of the day's breakaway while the general classification battle began in earnest behind.
Sky had held the red jersey after each of the opening two stages, first through Peter Kennaugh and then Michal Kwiatkowski, but Fernandez's second place, 21 seconds behind Geniez, was enough for him to take red in his debut Vuelta.
Tour de France winner Chris Froome looked to have been dropped on the final climb - just 1.8km long but at brutal gradients, averaging 13.8 per cent and maxing out at almost 30 per cent - but the Sky man gradually worked his way back, finishing fourth alongside Movistar's Valverde and Orica-BikeExchange's Esteban Chaves, five seconds behind Fernandez.
That means Fernandez now leads overall by seven seconds from Valverde, with Froome third, 11 seconds down.
Chaves is fourth, 17 seconds down alongside Movistar's Nairo Quintana in fifth. Kennaugh, leader after the opening stage, is seventh, 47 seconds off the pace.
This challenging 176.4km stage from Marin to Dumbria put several early challenges in the riders' path, and took its toll as Giant-Alpecin's Warren Barguil abandoned while Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez lost several minutes in a crash.
There were also big losers on the final climb as Tinkoff's Alberto Contador finished 54 seconds down and Lotto-NL Jumbo's Steven Kruiswijk rolled home more than two minutes after Geniez.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments