Kämna has to be patient - Evenepoel wins in Andorra

Lennard Kämna was stopped in his hunt for a Vuelta stage win shortly before the mountain finish in Andorra-Arinsal.

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Vuelta 2023: Lennard Kämna caught up shortly before the finish

The former junior world champion already had the stage win in sight on the third stage of the 78th Tour of Spain, before the group of cycling stars around time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel and Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard roared to the front around 1.5 kilometres before the finish. Evenepoel took the stage and the overall winner's red jersey, although he collided with a journalist shortly after the finish line and suffered a laceration to his head.

At one point, Kämna already looked like the winner. On the 8.3 kilometre long and on average 7.7 percent steep final climb, the 26-year-old had already shaken off the Italian breakaway rider Damiano Caruso. In the final kilometres, however, the stars of the sport forced the pace and decided the victory among themselves. Nobody was able to counter the explosiveness of last year's winner Evenepoel. The Belgian won ahead of Vingegaard and the Spaniard Juan Ayuso. Evenepoel is now five seconds ahead of the Spaniard Enric Mas in the overall standings. Vingegaard is 31 seconds back in fourth place.

Kämna waits for Vuelta stage win

Kämna will therefore have to wait for his first Vuelta stage win. The North German has already won stages at the Tour de France (2020) and the Giro d'Italia (2022). The overall classification does not play a role for him this year.

Tuesday's fourth stage will be a little more leisurely. Over 185 kilometres from Andorra la Vella to Tarragona, there are only two third-category mountains to conquer. The last Grand Tour of the season ends on 17 September in Madrid.

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