The summit finish was in Vallter 2000.
From the start, stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya steadily made its way skyward, the day not just long, at 203.1km, but also mountainous, with every kilometer leading to the finale in the Pyrenean ski resort of Vallter, 2,125m above sea level.
While a breakaway would have their sights set on winning the stage, today the GC riders would also be having their own race to see who could rise up in the overall standings. Nine riders made their move around 15km into the stage, and the peloton was content to let them go, this group going on to build an advantage that topped out at 12:25.
This spurred the peloton on to speed up a little, cutting this lead down to less than half with 50km left. With the road starting to rise from this point, the GC riders started to head to the front of the peloton. The climb was 12k. With the ascent an average gradient of 7.4%, the break started to splinter, but while the remnants still held their lead over the bunch for the first 7km of the climb, it was clear they were going to be caught. A small select group of four formed on the front.
The escapees were only fifteen seconds up the road, and injecting some pace into the chase group. With the breakaway remains swallowed up, Chaves picked his moment and launched in pursuit of former teammate Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) who had forced a gap, leading the race into the final six kilometres as the road continued to head north. Chaves caught and passed Kuss and Valverde but with still Yates ahead, it was all to fight for. He crossed the line just 13 seconds down on the stage winner Yates.
2021 Volta a Catalunya – Stage 3Results:
- Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) 22:27
- Esteban Chaves (Team BikeExchange) +0:13
- Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) +0:19
General Classification after stage 3:
- Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) 9:44:21
- Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:45
- Joan Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep) +0:50
- Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) +1:21
- Esteban Chaves (Team BikeExchange) +1:21
