Wout van Aert added a stage victory on the Vuelta a España to his lengthy checklist of achievements on Monday, sprinting to victory within the chief’s purple jersey in Castelo Branco.
The Belgian is now a stage winner in all three Grand Excursions.
He initially took over the purple jersey of race chief on stage two, overhauling American Brandon McNulty (UAE Group Emirates) who had received the opening time-trial 24 hours earlier.
Van Aert completed second on the stage behind Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), however the bonus seconds have been sufficient for him to grab the lead of the race.
Groves took the lead of the factors classification along with his win, seven factors forward of Van Aert. Nevertheless, van Aert’s win on Monday noticed him bounce forward of the Australian within the factors jersey standings.
Lidl-Trek’s Mathias Vacek completed second within the opening time-trial and stored holding of the lead of the youth classification.
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) took the lead of the climber’s competitors by successful the dash to the second labeled climb of the stage.
UAE Group Emirates proceed to guide the workforce classification, forward of Lidl-Trek and Group Visma-Lease a Bike.
Vuelta a España 2024 stage three: Lousa to Castelo Branco
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 4:40:42
2. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
3. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi
4. Arne Marit (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty
5. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-firmenich PostNL
6. Corbin Sturdy (Nzl) Israel-Premier Tech
7. Arjen Livyns (Bel) Lotto Dstny
8. Jesús Antonio Soto (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma
9. Carlos Canal (Esp) Movistar
10. Pau Miquel (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma, all at similar time
Vuelta a España 2024 common classification after stage three
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike in 10:05:59
2. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Group Emirates, +13s
3. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek +15s
4. Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ, +19s
5. Edoardo Affini (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike, +21s
6. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Group Jayco AlUla, +19s
7. Primoz Roglič (Slo) Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +30s
8. Bruno Amirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +31s
9. Joao Almeida (Por) UAE Group Emirates, +32s
10. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar, +33s
Vuelta a España 2024 factors classification after stage three
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, 98pts
2. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck, 65pts
3. Luis Angel Maté (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, 35pts
4. Corbin Sturdy (Aus) Israel-Prmeier Tech, 35pts
5. Jon Izaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, 34 pts
Vuelta a España 2024 youth classification after stage three
1. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek in 10:06:14
2. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Group Jayco AlUla, +14s
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +19s
4. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +20s
5. Filippo Baroncini (Ita) UAE Group Emirates, +24s
Vuelta a España 2024 mountains classification after stage three
1. Luis Angel Maté (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, 9pts
2. Xabier Larranaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, 3pts
3. Ibon Ruiz (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma, 3pts
4. Stefan Kung (Swi) Groupama-FDJ, 2pts
5. Roger Adria (Spa) Purple Bull Bora-hansgrohe, 1pts
Vuelta a España 2024 groups classification after stage three
1. UAE Group Emirates in 30:19:19
2. Lidl-Trek, +12s
3. Visma-Lease a Bike, +13s
