Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates-XRG is leading the Volta a Catalunya after a dramatic photo finish in stage three.
The Spanish rider narrowly beat Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, winning the first major mountain stage by just the width of a tyre. Both Ayuso and Roglic had broken away from the peloton as they neared the finish line.
Ayuso now has a six-second lead over Roglic in the overall standings with four stages still to go.
Mikel Landa of Soudal-QuickStep, who finished third in both stage three and the general classification, is five seconds behind Ayuso.
While the first two stages favored sprinters, with Matthew Brennan and Ethan Vernon from Britain each winning a stage, stage three was all about the climbers. The 218.6km ride from Viladecans to La Molina tested their mountain skills.
Stage four on Thursday will keep riders in the mountains, starting in Sant Vicenc de Castellet and covering 188.7km, finishing with a tough climb to Montserrat Mil·lenari.
Stage three results
- Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 5hrs 49mins 29secs
- Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) same time
- Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-QuickStep) +2secs
- Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain Victorious) +4secs
- Lennert Van Eetvelt (Bel/Lotto) +4secs
General Classification Leaders After Stage Three of the Race
- Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 14hrs 30mins 49secs
- Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +6secs
- Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-QuickStep) +11secs
- Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +14secs
- Junior Lecerf (Bel/Soudal-QuickStep) +17secs
