Pierre Rolland takes over as race leader
Thursday 26 March 2015 10:17, UK
Team Sky’s Chris Froome lost time to his rivals as Domenico Pozzovivo escaped to a solo victory on stage three of the Volta a Catalunya and Pierre Rolland took the overall lead.
Froome was dropped when the peloton broke apart on the last of the day’s five categorised climbs around 18km from the finish in Girona.
Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Richie Porte (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Fabio Aru (Astana) and Rigoberto Uran (Etixx – Quick-Step) formed part of a five-man lead group going over the summit, with Cannondale-Garmin pair Dan Martin and Andrew Talansky later joining on the 13km descent to the finish.
The group looked to be preparing to sprint for the victory, but Pozzovivo attacked with around 1.8km to go and hung on to win by three seconds from runner-up Martin and third-placed Uran.
Froome followed in the main chase group 22 seconds later along with Rolland (Europcar), who had started the day second overall but now climbs to the top of the standings after previous leader Maciej Paterski (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) lost 1min 34sec on the day.
The Pole remains second overall, 1min 8sec down on Rolland, while Bart de Clerq (Lotto Soudal) hangs on to third place, 1min 16sec back.
Pozzovivo is now fourth overall, while Froome, who was ill earlier in the month, is 2min 46sec back in 28th.
Froome’s demise means Porte is likely to take over as Team Sky’s leader given that the Australian is 19 seconds ahead in eighth overall and appears in better condition ahead of Thursday’s crucial summit finish to stage four on La Molina.
Stage three result
1 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, 3:52:37
2 Dan Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin, +3secs
3 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step, same time
4 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, st
6 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, st
7 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Garmin, st
8 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana, +22
9 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, st
10 Alberto Losada (Esp) Katusha, st
Selected others
20 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Europcar, st
30 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, st
42 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice, +1:34
General classification
1 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Europcar, 22:09:23
2 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice, +1:08
3 Bart de Clerq (Bel) Lotto Soudal, +1:16
4 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +2:14
5 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step, +2:21
6 Dan Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin, +2:22
7 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, +2:27
8 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, same time
9 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, st
10 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Garmin, st
Selected other
28 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +2:46
