If few fans picked David Gaudu for a podium finish ahead of the Vuelta’s climbing class on yesterday’s short-summit finish, even fewer surely believed he would pip Mads Pedersen on what seemed to be a tailor-made stage for the Danish classics specialist. Yet in Stage 3 of the Vuelta, on rain-slick Italian roads, the Frenchman did just that, darting through the final bend with perfect timing, nicking victory from Pedersen and Jonas Vingegaard in the space of twenty meters, beating out what was one of the oddest assortments of riders comprising a top ten in recent bike racing memory.
It was the shortest of stages, 134 kilometers from San Maurizio Canavese, but it carried a sting: serpentine roads, a late grind, and bonus seconds on the line. Lidl-Trek spent their matches organizing a textbook lead-out for Pedersen. Vingegaard, despite the distraction of Visma’s stolen team bikes overnight, rode like a man intent on locking down the red jersey — and perhaps green as well. All seemed set for a straightforward finish. Then Gaudu pounced.
His cunning move elevated him into second overall—on the same time as Vingegaard—though surprise and delight notwithstanding, it’s way too early to start wondering if this Vuelta will be harder-fought than expected. Yes, Giulio Ciccone, Egan Bernal, and Tom Pidcock all lurk within seconds of Vingegaard and Gaudu, but this Vuelta is replete with monstrous, GC-shaking climbs (not to mention a time trial and a team time trial); in reality, we’ve only just begun.
Nonetheless, the Frenchman’s triumph also underlined a truth about Grand Tours: surprises thrive in small spaces. A single corner, a sliver of road, can upend weeks of planning, and can make for thrilling racing to watch.
Stage 4, running deeper into Piedmont, should bring the sprinters back to the fore, with flat roads offering fewer ambushes. But after Gaudu’s sleight of hand, no one will be sleeping easy in the peloton tonight.
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