The China Mail - Vuelta stage three abandoned in dangerous weather conditions

Riders, including red jersey-wearing race leader Tadej Pogacar, pulled off the road to take shelter in a hotel amid the severe weather conditions in the Pyrenees.

Mats Wenzel and Lorenzo Fortunato had been leading ahead of the peloton when the decision was made.

Riders were reaching the top of the penultimate climb on the way to the Font Romeu finish line at the end of the 174-kilometre course from Gruissan.

"It's been a good call from the riders and organisation to step off the bike," said Visma-Lease A Bike sports director Maarten Wynants.

"It's the safest for everyone to cancel the race because the weather conditions were simply too dangerous to continue."

Conditions had been fine at the start, with six riders attacking early on, including Soudal Quick-Step's Ethan Hayter, who was pipped by Pogacar in the opening stage individual time-trial.

The breakaway extended their advantage to more than two-and-a-half minutes but the peloton gradually reeled the escapees back in, with Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad working hard to keep the gap under control.

Crosswinds split the peloton on the exposed roads, with general classification contender Felix Gall suffering, but the Austrian managed to recover.

With around 60km remaining, riders could see the dark clouds and rainy conditions awaiting them ahead, and which ultimately forced the stage to be abandoned.

Rain and then hail lashed down with around 25km remaining as UAE picked up the pace to close down three riders still out in front.

- Pogacar makes call -

Wenzel was soon the last man standing from the breakaway as he kept plugging away despite the inclement weather, and he was joined by Fortunato.

Some riders in the bunch pulled to the side of the road to take shelter from the hailstones, while Pogacar called for the peloton to turn off route and head into a nearby hotel.

Race organisers then confirmed the stage had been abandoned because of the weather.

Stage four starts and finishes in Andorra on Tuesday, running 104.8km in the mountains with several categorised climbs, which should provide a solid indication of which riders expect to finish high in the general classification.

Slovenian cycling superstar Pogacar, a five-time Tour de France winner, is the overwhelming favourite to win the race and complete the set of Grand Tour victories, having won the Giro d'Italia in 2024.

Only a major upset will prevent him finishing the race in Granada on September 13 as the ninth rider to complete the feat and only the fourth to do a Tour-Vuelta double in the same season.

A.Zhang--ThChM