Itzulia Basque Country

For the second day running, Andrea Bagioli was involved in the fight for victory, this time on a brutal uphill finish, typical for the Basque Country, which featured some insane 26% ramps in the final 200 meters.

But before that happened, Soudal Quick-Step animated the tough stage 3 between Errenteria and Amasa-Villabona with the one and only “TGV of Clermont-Ferrand” – Rémi Cavagna. The Frenchman, victorious this season in two stages of Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, took off from the peloton after an intense first hour of racing and joined a small breakaway group whose “engine” he was, helping the move remain clear until 25 kilometers to go.

Attacks began pouring after the catch was made, one of those who tried their luck being James Knox. The Cumbrian joined the lone leader of the race with ten kilometers to go, and pushed hard on the descent to take their advantage to more than half a minute. With the demanding finale coming up, James knew the margin wasn’t enough, but he believed in his chances and was pegged back with only 700 meters to go.

Wearing the best young rider’s jersey, Andrea Bagioli was among the few to tame those wild gradients, taking eighth place behind stage winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), a result that cemented his position in the general classification top 10. In addition to this, the Italian remains in contention also for the youth classification, where he sits just three seconds from the top.

Photo credit: ©David Ramos / Getty Images