Felix Gall took control of the Vuelta a Burgos with a solo victory on stage 3, sharpening his credentials before the Vuelta a EspaƱa.
The Decathlon CMA CGM rider struck repeatedly on the Puerto del Escudo before riding clear near the misty summit. He then protected his narrow advantage on the short descent to Balneario de Corconte.
Gall crossed the line alone, 10 seconds ahead of the reduced chase group. Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek sprinted to second, with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider Giulio Pellizzari third.
Oscar Onley, who started the day in the race lead for Netcompany-Ineos, fought to contain the damage. He crested the final climb behind Gall, then lost second place in the finishing straight.
Gall seizes Vuelta a Burgos control
The result moved Gall into the overall lead after three stages. He now sits six seconds ahead of Ciccone, while Onley is third at eight seconds.
Gall arrived at the Spanish stage race after finishing second at the Giro d’Italia. His performance in Burgos adds weight to his aim of reaching the Vuelta a EspaƱa podium.
Mathys Rondel of Tudor and Enric Mas of Movistar finished 22 seconds down on the stage. Jarno Widar of Lotto IntermarchƩ and Pablo Torres of UAE Team Emirates-XRG came in 46 seconds behind Gall.
The dayās early move formed in two waves across the opening climbs. Gorka Corres, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Diego Uriarte and Iker Mintegi went clear first.
Milan Vader, Pavel Sivakov and Jasper Schoofs later bridged across on the Alto Retuerta. That move came with a little more than 100km still to race.
The seven riders built a gap of around two minutes after receiving those reinforcements. The advantage began shrinking after the penultimate climb, the Estacas de Trueba.
Decathlon CMA CGM helped drive the chase as the final ascent approached. The break started to split even before the hardest slopes of the Puerto del Escudo.
The gap had fallen to 30 seconds with 12km remaining. Sivakov and the last survivors from the move were caught 10km from the finish, just as the gradient increased.
Escudo attacks decide stage 3
Lidl-Trek then took command for Ciccone on the Escudo. Julien Bernard and Sam Oomen set the tempo as the favouritesā group thinned.
Jay Vineās challenge ended after a clumsy fall forced him to stop and reseat his chain. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider could not regain contact.
Ciccone made the first major acceleration with a little under 5km of climbing left. Onley reacted immediately and stayed close to the Italian.
Torres then launched his own move and opened a 10-second gap. Decathlon CMA CGM responded by lifting the pace in support of Gall.
Gall attacked with 4km of the climb remaining. Onley, Ciccone and Mas followed, and the quartet quickly swept past Torres.
Torres showed patience and returned when the leaders eased and spread across the road. The group briefly came back together before Gall attacked again.
His second acceleration came 2km from the summit. Ciccone and Onley initially followed, but Gall pressed clear near the top.
Onley crossed the summit 10 seconds behind and chased on the 3km run to the finish. Ciccone and Pellizzari caught him before the line, while Gall stayed clear for the stage and the jersey.
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