The third stage of the Andalucía Bike Race by GARMIN has once again had Jaén as the venue for the start and finish. The start of the day has been, for the second consecutive day, in front of the Cathedral of Jaén, but this time the runners have gone through Los Villares and then face Las Cimbras, the Cañada de las Hazadillas and the slope of Cerro de San Cristóbal , in a stage of new creation.
After two hard days on the trails of Jaén, the runners faced the most technical and hard day of this edition in this third stage, where they climbed more than 2,200 meters of unevenness throughout the 64 kilometers of the stage. Snow and ice have once again been the protagonists at the highest levels, with some descents where the runners have had to show all their technical abilities.
Fabian Rabensteiner and Wout Alleman (Wilier Pirelli Factory) tried to repeat the script of yesterday’s day setting a high pace from the start, allowing them to break away on their own, claim their second stage victory and take the overall lead. “We felt good from the start and we attacked on the first climb. We saw that the leaders had difficulties and we didn’t stop to get an advantage with the chasing group”.
In their pursuit, two groups have formed that have ended up joining in the last descent towards the finish line at the Olivo Arena in Jaén. Francesco Failli and Riccardo Chiarini (Taddei Factory Team) have led a group of up to six couples that have come just over three minutes behind the new leaders. Enrique Morcillo and Hugo Drechou (BUFF®-Megamo Team) completed the podium of the stage. For the Poles Michal Paluta and Pawel Bernas (JBG2 Team) the stage has been hard, which has meant that they lose the general classification to the detriment of Rabensteiner and Alleman.
In the female category, there has also been a change of leadership in the general, with a similar situation as in the Elite Male category. Stefanie Dohrn and Lejla Njemcevic (Canyon-Allebike) also looked for an early attack and from the first kilometers they set their pace. Dohrn and Njemcevic have won the stage, being the third different couple to raise their arms in the first three stages of this Andalucía Bike Race by GARMIN. “The sensations have been very good. We are progressing stage by stage and every day we feel better, which is a good sign because there are three more stages to go”.
The Canyon-Allebike duo also took the lead in the general classification, with the same time as Katazina Sosna and Irina Luetzelschwab (Team Torpado-BULLS Swiss), second in today’s stage. Txell Figueras and Janina Wüst (BUFF®-Megamo Team), who until today were leading the general standings, have finished third in the stage and also take third place in a very close general between the first three couples.
The race says goodbye to Jaén and tomorrow it moves to Villafranca de Córdoba to play the time trial stage. It will be a fast and demanding stage, which will have about 32 kilometers and 900 meters of positive elevation gain, with a route of constant ups and downs. The starting point will be the Fairgrounds and the runners will face an area of ??trails where the Ascent of Los Rafaeles stands out. In the second part of the stage, the most decisive point will be the ascent to ‘La Risa’, a mythical ascent in Villafranca de Córdoba.
