De La Cruz climbs up to fourth

09 Aug 2018

De La Cruz climbs up to fourth

David de la Cruz came home in an impressive third place on the Picon Blanco summit finish on stage three at the Vuelta a Burgos.

The Team Sky rider climbed his way into an elite general classification group alongside teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart on the tough final climb.
 
De La Cruz crossed the line third, 32 seconds after Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and Ivan Sosa (Androni Giocattoli-Sidemec) who had pushed clear in the closing kilometres. He now sits fourth overall with two stages to go, 34 second back on new race leader Lopez.
 
Attacks in the group with 2.5km to go saw Geoghegan Hart briefly distanced, only for the young Brit to haul himself back to the front and set a tempo at the head of the group for his teammate.
 
At the line Geoghegan Hart was able to limit his losses well, finishing sixth, and now occupying the same position overall, 52 seconds off the lead.
 
Team Sky rode well as a team across the 149km stage, with Diego Rosa getting through a lot of work on the front amid a number of motivated teams. When the final climb began it was David Lopez who took it up, before attacks saw the group begin to fracture.
Stage three result:

1. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) 3:59:30
2. Ivan Sosa (Androni Giocattoli-Sidemec) s.t.
3. David de la Cruz (Team Sky) +32"
4. Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) s.t.
5. Igor Anton (Dimension Data)
6. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) +52"

Overall standings:

1. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) 11:38:14
2. Ivan Sosa (Androni Giocattoli-Sidemec) +2"
3. Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) +27"
4. David de la Cruz (Team Sky) +34"
5. Igor Anton (Dimension Data) s.t.
6. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) +42"