Dorian Godon wins again following the fruitless battle between Evenepoel and Vingegaard on the Costa Daurada
March 25 th 2026 - 18:57 [GMT + 1]
Stage 3 of the 2026 Volta a Catalunya delivered a thrilling day of racing on the Costa Daurada on Wednesday 25 March. Race leader Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) secured his second stage victory in a small-group sprint, but the spotlight was on the attacking moves by favourites Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who crashed within the final kilometer whilst leading the race, and Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), who was caught on the final straight. A first taste of things to come before the high mountains.
A peloton of 156 cyclists set off on the third stage of the 2026 Volta a Catalunya, which covered the inland areas of the Costa Daurada on a 159.4-kilometre route between Mont-roig del Camp and Vila-seca. The mountain climbs of Alto de La Mussara (1st category), Coll de Capafonts (2nd category) and Coll Roig (3rd category), all situated well before the final stretch of the stage, were unable to prevent a large group from contesting the stage victory in a sprint finish.
Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché), leader of the mountains and points classifications after two days, was once again in the thick of the action from the very first kilometre, forming a six-man breakaway with his teammate Reuben Thompson (Lotto Intermarché), Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma), Burnett (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) and Mark Stewart (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling), who took the lead on the day’s mountain passes but were caught in the final 30 kilometres, when the race blew apart.
The echelons split the peloton, led by the teams of the top favourites, until Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), riding at the front, launched an attack 24 kilometers from the finish, which was matched only by his main rival Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease en Bike). Both stayed with the main group, which knew it had to let them battle it out for the stage win, but the adventure came to an end within the final kilometre of the stage on the streets of Vila-seca, when a crash sent Evenepoel to the ground and Vingegaard eased off.
They were thus absorbed into a smaller breakaway, with the fastest rider once again taking the lead: the Frenchman Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), who, having claimed the blue-and-white jersey on the opening stage in San Félix de Guíxols, was able to celebrate victory once more after overtaking the British rider Ethan Ver (EF Education-EasyPost).