Frenchman David Gaudu of team Groupama-FDJ outwitted his rivals on the late hairpin turns to win stage three of the Vuelta a Espana today, as Jonas Vingegaard came third to retain the overall lead after a 139km ride from San Maurizio Canavese to Ceres in Italy.
Gaudu, who was third yesterday, finished ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) to climb to second place in the general classification, 14 seconds behind two-time Tour de France champion Vingegaard.
"I was thinking in the bus this morning it was more for Pedersen, but (team-mate Stefan) Kung said to me I have a punch and I can win today," Gaudu said after his first Vuelta stage win since 2020.
"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."
Irish duo Archie Ryan and Eddie Dunbar had differing days.
Ryan came home in 53rd for the EF Education-Easypost team, moving him up to 46th in the overall classification.
Team Jayco-AlUla's Dunbar finished in 151st place, which saw him slide from 70th down to 133rd overall.
Denmark's Vingegaard rose to the top of the points classification after green jersey holder Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) struggled to keep up with the peloton.
Vingegaard's third-place finish came after his team Visma-Lease a Bike said that their mechanics' truck was broken into the previous night and several bikes were stolen.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident, the team added.
The race continues on Tuesday with a 192km stage from Italy's Susa to Voiron in France.
