Peter Sagan wins Vuelta A Espana Stage 3
Vuelta a Espana 2015 stage was from Mijas to Malaga a distance of 158.5 km. this was Peter Sagan’s first win since the Tour of California in May, and his first Grand Tour win since the 2013 Tour de France. Well deserved win after this years Tour de France in which he placed second in counteless stages.
Vuelta a Espana 2015 Stage 3 Results:
| 1 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo | 4:06:46 | |
| 2 | Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | ||
| 3 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin | ||
| 4 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team | ||
| 5 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida | ||
| 6 | Youcef Reguigui (Alg) MTN – Qhubeka | ||
| 7 | Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica GreenEdge | ||
| 8 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing | ||
| 9 | Vicente Reynes (Spa) IAM Cycling | ||
| 10 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo |
General Classification after 3 Stages:
| 1 | Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge | 8:04:01 | |
| 2 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin | 0:00:05 | |
| 3 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky | 0:00:15 | |
| 4 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:24 | |
| 5 | Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha | 0:00:35 | |
| 6 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | 0:00:36 | |
| 7 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:38 | |
| 8 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | 0:00:40 | |
| 9 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha | ||
| 10 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:47 |
Vuelta a Espana 2015 Stage 3 Map
Vuelta a España 2015 will be the 70th edition. The Vuelta a Espana is one of cycling’s three Grand Tours of racing. The race is from August 22 to September 13 2015. Lots of excitement with 9 mountain top finishes in the first 2 weeks. The climbs are all short and steep.One climb the Alba Quirós the final 3.3km of its 6.6km include grades at a leg shattering at 30% as it winds its way up the hairpins.
The 198 cyclist will cover a distance of 3,357.1 km (2,086 mi).
Below is a route map and list of some top contenders except for Alberto Contador who is not racing.
Vuelta a Espana 2015 Route Map
Some racers to watch this year:
Chris Froome (Team Sky): Kenyan (born 20 May 1985)
Chris Froome
At the age of 12, his mother took him to his first organised bike race, where he met professional cyclist David Kinjah, who became Froome’s mentor. They trained together, mountain biking in the rural highlands north of Nairobi. Chris Froome broke out in 2011.
- Tour de France winner 2015.
- 2011 placed second in the Vuelta a Espana,
- 2012 second Tour de France, 3rd (bronze) in time trials Olympic games,
- 2013 first Tour of Oman, first in the Tour de France,
- 2014 he is still proving to be in top form by placing first again in the Tour of Oman and Tour de Romandie.
- 2014 second place Vuelta a Espana
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana): Italian (born 14 November 1984)
Vincenzo Nibali
In order to become a cyclist, he left his hometown Messina and moved to Tuscany at the age of sixteen. For ten months of the year, he lived in the house of his ex-directeur sportif, Carlo Franceschi, in Mastromarco.
- 2010 first Vuelta a Espana
- 2011 second Giro d’Italia
- 2013 first Giro d’Italia and second in the Vuelta a Espana
- 2014 first Tour de France
Nairo Quintana (Movistar):Columbian born (born 4 February 1990). Since his win of the 2014 Giro d’Italia last month Movistar has decided to let Quintana rest and he is not going to race in Le Tour. But his background is interesting so I left it in.
Nairo Quintana
Quintana comes from a very humble background and his parents raised him in what the newspaper El Espectador refers to as “precariously difficult economic conditions” but still saved up to buy Quintana a second-hand mountain bike to make the mountenous journey to school. His biggest strength (not surprisingly) is climbing, this combined with a very light physique is the formula of a champion.
This young man climbed Mountains at high altitude his whole life. Growing up in rural Colombia, Quintana had no inspiration or knowledge of professional cycling. His parents sold fruit and vegetables at a market, and he would often sell the produce with his father door-to-door. “I didn’t know Miguel Indurain or any other professionals,” Quintana says. “We didn’t have a television.” His mountain bike was simply the only way he could get to school. Living at 3,000 meters of altitude, he would ride 18 kilometers down the mountain each morning, before climbing back up in the afternoon. This is why he is now the best cyclist climber in the World.
- Second Tour de France 2015
- 2014 Giro d’Italia Winner
- 2012 1st Stage 1 (ITT) Vuelta a Espana
- 2013 second place Tour de France.
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma QuickStep):British (born 21 May 1985)
Mark Cavendish
Originally a track racing cyclist specializing in the Madison, points and scratch disciplines, he has competed on the road since 2006, rising to prominence as a sprinter, widely considered to be the fastest road cyclist in the world.”I was always riding a bike, getting dropped in little races.” Cavendish started racing informally at twelve, as a mountain-bike rider.”My mum would laugh at me, and I said it was because all my mates had mountain bikes, so I asked for a mountain bike for my thirteenth birthday and got one. The very next day I went out and beat everyone.” Likely going for a green points jersey in the race.
- 2008-2011 20 stage wins Tour de France
- 2008-2011 9 stage wins Giro d”italia
- 2011 first World Road Championships, first points competition Tour de France
- 2012 2 stage wins Tour de France
- 2013 6 stage wins Giro d’Italia, 2 stage wins Tour de France
Tejay van Garderen (BMC) American (born August 12, 1988)
Tejay Van Garderen
Tejay withdrew in stage 17. He began riding at 10. By 14, he nearly beat two hours at theMount Evans Hill Club, a 28-mile climb gaining nearly 7,000 feet. He won 10 junior national titles in road (road race, criterium and TT) and cyclo-cross. Two of his early teams were the Team Rio Grande Racing developmental squad.
- 2010 stage 1 winner (TTT) Vuelta a Espana, second overall Tour of Turkey
- 2012 fifth overall Tour de France
- 2013 first overall Tour of California, first overall USA cycling challenge
- 2014 second overall Tour of Oman
Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Movistar) Spanish, (born 25 April 1980)
Alejandro Valverde
Valverde grew up in a Spanish cycling family, his father Juan was an amateur bicycle racer and bought him a bike when he was six years old.His brother Juan Francisco was also an amateur road racing cyclist. Valverde’s first race was in his home region in Jumilla, he finished second. The following week he won his second race in Yecla He allegedly took more than fifty consecutive victories between 11 and 13 years old, earning him the nickname El Imbatido (The Unbeaten). He has an impressive record:
- 2006 second Vuelta a Espana
- 2008 first National Road Race Championships
- 2009 first Vuelta a Espana
- 2012 second Vuelta a Espana
- 2012, 2013, 2014 first each year in the Vuelta a Andalucia
- 2013 third Vuelta a Espana.
Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) Swiss (born 18 March 1981)
Fabian Cancellara
Cancellara began road cycling after falling in love with an old bike at the age of thirteen. After that, he then began to take the sport more seriously and he won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999. At age nineteen he turned professional. Fabian Cancellara will try to break the hour world record in Aguascalientes, Mexico, after the 2014 Tour de France. He just may do it, as this 32-year-old Swiss powerhouse cyclist already holds the 2008 Olympic and four World time trial titles. His nickname is “Spartacus” 2008 first “Gold” in time trial Olympic Games.
- First place 2004-2013 (except 2010) in the National Time Trials
- 2013 first in tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix
- 2014 first Tour of Flanders
Peter Sagan (Cannondale): Slovakian (born 26 January 1990)
Peter Sagan
Nicknamed “The Terminator” Sagan is one of my favorite riders to watch. He is considered by many one of cycling’s most promising young talents, having earned many prestigious victories in his early twenties. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing. Likely a good contender for a green points jersey in the race.He had more second place finishes in the 2015 Tour de France I have ever seen in a racer.
- Points winner Tour de France 2015
- 2010 Paris-Nice first points classification
- 2012 first in points Tour of Oman, first in points Tour de France
- 2013 first National Road Race Championship
Marcel Kittel (Argos Shimano) German (born 11 May 1988)
Marcel Kittel
Kittel made his Tour debut in 2012 when he was selected as leader of his team in the 2012 Tour de France, where he would compete for stage wins and the green jersey.Kittel has found incredible success as a sprinter. Likely going for a green points jersey in the race.
- He finished first in the 2013 Tour de France first stage in Corsica and took the inaugural Maillot jaune of the 100th Tour de France
- Kittel started the 2014 season by winning three stages in-a-row at the Tour of Dubai. On the third stage, he survived two short climbs near the end of the race and won the sprint of a greatly reduced group
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