Vuelta a España 2022

Stage 3 – Breda > Breda (193.5km)

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Vuelta a España 2022 Stage 3 Profile

Stage 2 Result

1st Sam Bennett (9/2)

2nd Mads Pedersen (11/2)

3rd Tim Merlier (6/4F)

Stage 2 Bets

2pts win Tim Merlier @6/4 – 3rd

Off to a slow start. Merlier suffered a bit of interference around the final bend but was still there with every chance. Great to see Bennett back to winning ways. That certainly shakes the market up a bit with no clear favourite in the sprinter’s ranks. Stage 3 should be interesting.

Watch stage 2 highlights here.

Stage 3 Preview

Another flat one before a rest day and transfer over to the Basque Country for something distinctly hillier on Tuesday. Interestingly, after 20km the route passes through Belgium in Baarle-Nassau, or rather shared Dutch and Belgian territory with exclaves and counter-exclaves in and around the town that are all a bit baffling.

We have the same caveats about potential crosswinds and whatever, but the stage is almost certain to end in a sprint. There’s a 90-degree right-hander with 800m to go but then it’s straight and flat to the finish albeit into a predicted headwind, so keeping covered up and launching late will be key.

Stage 3 Contenders

Having the overwhelming favourite on your team isn’t always ideal as Alpecin-Deceuninck found out on stage 2. No other sprint teams helped share the load with the Belgian team on the front, choosing instead to keep everyone fresh and risk the break not being pulled back. That led to some bizarre tactics from Alpecin who drove the front and almost pulled the break back, which could’ve left them vulnerable to a counter-attack. Whether it was a show of strength or anger due to the lack of cooperation who knows – but they should’ve saved those legs for the end.

Despite that, Tim Merlier was given a dream ride through the final 10km, kept out of trouble through the technical turns, but when it mattered most – in the final 2km – his leadout fragmented and he was suddenly out of position and alone. There was a shoulder nudge from Arkéa-Samic’s Dan McLay on the final bend which took him wide and then he ran out of legs in the sprint. So there are excuses for Merlier but then there are hard-luck stories everywhere if you look hard enough. In short, the Belgian champion and his team will be smarting after working all day for nought. Luckily, they have a chance to immediately put it right here – Merlier is a little bigger now at 9/4 second favourite.

The favourite of course being stage 2 winner Sam Bennett. What a leadout from Danny van Poppel – he was the difference. If he continues with that form and nose for a gap, Bennett will be in position to win a few more times this Vuelta.

Trek-Segafredo’s Mads Pedersen was also delivered brilliantly but just got overrun. He lacks the very top speed of some of the others so will always need a perfect leadout to win a bunch sprint like this. But the quickest don’t always win and a good leadout counts for an awful lot. Still, the 10/3 about him seems short.

The man closing fastest in the stage 2 sprint was actually Jumbo-Visma’s Mike Teunissen who, courtesy of his high finish now wears the leader’s red jersey. Ordinarily a leadout man, Teunissen clearly has some licence to mix it with the fastmen in a team that is obviously fully-focused around Primož Roglič and the general classification. He’s half the price he was 24 hours ago at 16/1.

Another fast finisher was BikeExchange-Jayco’s Kaden Groves who was delivered near the front with a kilometre to go but then got bullied back down the field, ultimately finishing 10th after sitting up. If he can hold a good position, Groves has the speed to go very close and is a tempting each-way punt at 14/1.

UAE-Team Emirates Pascal Ackermann was well positioned and came home in fifth suggesting his wrist injury isn’t hampering him too much. Less lucky was Intermarché-Wanty’s Gerben Thijssen who crashed in the final and said afterwards that he feared for his ankle – hopefully, he makes the start line in Breda.

If he gets a clear run then I still think he’s the fastest, so we’re going in again with Merlier – just keep away from McLay’s shoulders!