Gilbert Wins Stage Three, Red Jersey as Leader of Vuelta a Espana

Philippe Gilbert of the Omega-Pharma-Lotto team celebrates his Stage Three win in the Vuelta a Espana. (Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images)

Omega Pharma-Lotto’s Phillipe Gilbert won Stage Three and the leader’s red jersey by breking free from the bunch on the final uphill kilometer of Stage Three of the 2010 Vuelta a Espana Monday.

Gilbert was dropped from the peloton on the second big climb of the day, but made his way back to the front in time to outpower his rivals for the win.

“I was dropped in the last three kilometres of the Puerto de León,” Gilbert told CyclingNews.com. “I lost maybe 30 seconds but I didn’t panic because I had studied the course really well and I knew what I was doing. On the downhill I took a lot of risks to come back.”

“I received a great help from my teammates, so I managed to start the final climb in the first five positions. I accelerated 600 meters from the finish line. I knew all the curves and the details of the route because I had done it in a car this morning.”

This marks Gilbert’s first time in the first leader’s jersey in any race.

Stage Three started with a Category Two climb up the Puerto de Ojen. Seven riders used the climb to launch an attack, which collapsed on the slopes of the Cat 1, Puerto del Leon, the second big climb of the stage.

Of the attackers, only Xacebo Galicia rider Serafin Martinez was able to keep away; he came within a kilometer of winning the stage, but was ridden down.

Vuelta a Espana Stage Three
1	Phillipe Gilbert	Omega Pharma-Lotto	4:06:12
2	Joaquin Rodriguez	Katusha	+0:3
3	Igor Anton	Euskatel-Euskadi	+0:13
4	Vincenzo Nibali	Liquigas	+0:15
5	Grega Bole	Lampre	+0:15
6	Nicholas Roche	Ag2R	+0:15
7	Denis Menchov	Rabobank	+0:18
8	Eziquiel Mosquera	Xacobeo-Galicia	+0:19
9	David Arroyo	Caisse d’Epargne	+0:19
10	Aurthur Vichot	Française des Jeux	+0:19
2010 Vuelta a Espana General Classification
1	Phillipe Gilbert	Omega Pharma-Lotto	8:55:56
2	Joaquin Rodriguez	Katusha	+14
3	Kanstantsin Siutsou	HTC-Columbia)	+22
4	Tejay Van Garderen	HTC-Columbia	+26
5	Vincenzo Nibali	Liquigas	+28
6	Peter Velits	HTC-Columbia	+28
7	Igor Anton	Euskatel-Euskadi	+35
8	Tondo Volpini	Cervelo	+35”
9	Fränk Schleck	Saxo Bank	+36
10	Xavier Florencio	Cervelo	+41