The third stage of the Vuelta a Burgos has been the first big mountain stage of the edition with the ascent to Picón Blanco . The stage began in Quintana Martín Galíndez and ended in Villarcayo , capital of Las Merindades, the Burgos of Opportunities.
Bastien Tronchon (AG2R Citroën Team), a French cyclist who is only 20 years old, is competing in his first race as a professional cyclist and after getting into the breakaway, he has managed to win the sprint from Pavel Sivakov , who is the new leader of the race.
The stage began with a lot of pace and many attempts to form the day’s breakaway, which was going to be much more fought than in the first two stages. Finally, Edoardo Affini (Team Jumbo-Visma), Bastien Tronchon (AG2R Citroën Team), Jesús Ezquerra (Burgos-BH), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Vojtech Repa (Team Kern Pharma) managed to form the break of the day . With Ibai Azurmendi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Edward Ravasi (Eolo Kometa) interspersed.
The pack of favorites began the ascent to Picón Blanco less than 3 minutes behind the escapees. Ineos Grenadiers were the first team to try, with attacks from Tao Geoghegan Hart and Pavel Sivakov with 4km to go. Miguel Ángel López (Astana Qazaqstan Team), winner at Picón Blanco in 2018, was the next to test it. The Colombian from Astana and the Frenchman from Ineos Grenadiers crowned the pass together, 1 minute behind the breakaways and with a 30-second advantage over the peloton.
The Kern Pharma rider, Vojtech Repa , crowned the Picón Blanco in first position and was going to become the new leader of the mountain classification. After the descent through the Sia, Sivakov joined Nicolau and Tronchon at the head of the race, Miguel Ángel López lost a few meters with Repa and the peloton, more than a minute away, was always led by EF Education-Easy Post and Bora Hansgrohe .
Finally, Pavel Sivakov and Bastien Tronchon would be left alone at the head of the race before the last ascent of the day to Alto de Bocos . The two Frenchmen arrived together at the sprint in Villarcayo, where Tronchon raised his arms for the first time in his sports career. Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), second in the stage, was going to be the new leader of the race after his attack on Picón Blanco and now has a 23-second lead over Santiago Buitrago in the General Classification .
Tomorrow will be the penultimate stage of the Vuelta a Burgos , a new opportunity for the fast riders in the peloton. A day with 169 kilometers between Torresandino and the Roman City of Clunia , with no ascents in the profile, but with a slightly uphill finish that can complicate some of the purest sprinters.
Stage 5
1 Bastien Tronchon AG2R Citroën Team 3:42:17
2 Pavel Sivakov INEOS Grenadiers 0:00
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte Movistar Team 0:28
Stage 5 GC
1 Pavel Sivakov INEOS Grenadiers 11:14:36
2 Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain – Victorious 0:23
3 Ruben Guerreiro EF Education-EasyPost 0:26
