David Gaudu achieves surprising victory at the Vuelta a España Stage 3

David Gaudu of Groupama-FDJ clinched a stunning victory at the Vuelta a España’s third stage by outsprinting Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek near the finish line. Gaudu timed his attack impressively and moved ahead of Pedersen, with Jonas Vingegaard securing third place and keeping the overall lead. 

This win was Gaudu’s first since 2023, and it is considered a big comeback for the athlete after a tough season. The athlete admitted that when he saw Pedersen launching his sprint at the 200-250-m mark, he pushed himself to his limits until he reached the finish line. 

The athlete said: “The team is doing a very, very, very good job. They keep us on the first position all day. So I’m very happy. I’m very, very proud to win for me, for the team. This is, I think, the best start to the Vuelta we could get.” 

Highlights of the race

The third stage of the Vuelta a España was a short 136.4-km ride. Lidl-Trek set a strong pace early on in the race, which was dominated by four riders–Alessandro Verre, Sean Quinn, Patrick Gamper, and Lars Van Boven. 

Lidl-Trek pushed hard to tire the sprinters during the main climb, and Quinn led the intermediate sprint but was caught 19 km from the finish as the pace increased. Several teams fought for the final position moving into the final kilometres. At this time, Lidl-Trek achieved its goal of dropping sprinter Philipsen from the lead group. In the final 5 km, more teams spread out across the road, and Visma-Lease a Bike led the steepest part of the route. 

However,  in the last 500 m, Gaudu kept up with the intense speed of his competitors and then sprinted past Pedersen at the line to win his third Vuelta stage.

On social media, Gaudu expressed: “The emotions 🥹Thank you @lavuelta 🇪🇸 Thanks to the team, friends, staff and everyone who supports me every day 😘Third stage victory on the Vuelta” 

 

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A post shared by David Gaudu (@david_gaudu)

One netizen expressed: “Congratulations on this great victory!” Another netizen shared: “That was one bold move 😮 💨🔥” 

More netizens remarked that he deserved the win after months of struggle and that he silenced a lot of spectators.

In the previous Vuelta a España race, Visma–Lease a Bike’s rider Jonas Vingegaard made a comeback after a fall. He won first place at the second stage of the Vuelta a España. Read more about the Stage 2 race here.