Volta a Catalunya 2014 - Stage 3

The Volta a Catalunya 2014 continued with stage three on Wednesday, which was the first of two consecutive summit finishes that were likely to decide the race overall. The stage was 162.9 kilometres from Banyoles to La Molina, and promised to be a showdown of last year's Tour de France top four, Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, Joaquim Rodriguez and Alberto Contador.

Contador was many people's pick for the day, as he was carrying form over from Tirreno-Adriatico, which he won in dominant fashion. A breakaway was always going to make things more difficult however, and six men went away early in the stage, which was marked by the bitter cold. Andrey Zeits (Astana), Jack Bobridge (Belkin), Michel Koch (Cannondale), Kevin Reza (Europcar), Branislau Samoilau (CCC Polsat) and Rudy Molard were the men who made up the break.

Their lead was up to nearly ten minutes at one point in the day, but was kept under control by a coalition of teams, mostly comprising of last year's Tour de France top four and their teammates. The break successfully negotiated two climbs on the stage, but in the valley before the climb upto La Molina, they started to fall apart.

With their lead falling, Kevin Reza jumped clear, and was soon joined by Branislau Samoilau. However, the break's days were numbered, and Movistar put multiple men on the front in aide of Nairo Quintana. However, just as the gradient steepened, Movistar's grip loosened, and Pierre Rolland (Europcar) put in the first serious dig of the day.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) countered, and his move looked more serious. He looked like he could make it stick, but it was Joaquim Rodriguez's faithful lieutenant Daniel Moreno who brought the race back together, before Chris Froome put in a huge attack. His high cadence didn't have the same effect as last year however, and Rodriguez and Contador were straight on the wheel, with Quintana not far behind.

Rodriguez then put in the decisive move, winning the stage, and creating gaps in the process. Alberto Contador finished second, five seconds down, and Nairo Quintana rounded out the podium nine seconds down. Tejay van Garderen was fourth, and Chris Froome wound up finishing fifth thirteen seconds down. Joaquim Rodriguez took the leader's jersey too for good measure, taking control of the race.