Spaniard grabs jersey in aggressive finale
One day after controversial rider Stefan Schumacher (Miche-Guerciotti) fortified his overall lead when he won the time trial, the German rider lost out on the third stage of the Vuelta Asturais.
The stage to Santuario del Acebo was a very undulating one and the constant changes of rhythm saw him eventually finish 18th, four minutes 36 seconds behind solo winner Javier Moreno (Caja Rural). That was enough to drop him down to tenth overall, while his Spanish rival took over at the top.
The stage was a very difficult one for Schumacher’s team to defend, as it was held on tough roads and was characterised by constant attacks. Soon after the start, five riders got clear and built a four minute lead: these were Christian Meier (Unitedhealthcare), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), César Fonte (Barbot), Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and José Luis Cano (Andalucia-Caja Granada).
The latter would eventually crack, but the others persisted. Inside the final 30 kilometres, these were joined by a seven man group. The cooperation was strained and a stream of attacks followed.
The most successful of these was one by Constantino Zaballa (Miche), who clipped away eight kilometres from the line and teamed up with Luis Pasamontes (Movistar) and Hernani Broco (LA Rota dos Moveis). These were then joined by Moreno, who caught and passed them and hit the line eight seconds clear of another bridging rider, Sergio Sousa (Barbot- Efapel). He was a further six up on Zaballa.
Schumacher suffered on the tougher terrain and slid backwards, losing his overall lead to Moreno.
The Spaniard is now 13 seconds ahead of Sousa going into tomorrow’s 181 kilometre penultimate leg to Oviedo.