De Gendt wins stage 3 of Tour of Catalonia to claim overall lead

MADRID, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Thomas de Gendt won the third stage of the Volta de Catalonia (Tour de Catalonia) cycle race after a heroic solo ride for 53 kilometers.

The Belgian, who rides for the Lotto-Soudal team, had been part of a three-man breakaway, which has been off the front of the main 'peloton' for nearly all of the stage and was able to defend an advantage which was never more than two and a half minutes after he left his companions in the break behind.

De Gendt was followed over the line by Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), who had been part of a four-man chasing group, including Colombian climber, Nairo Quintana, which was overtaken by the main group just meters from the finish line.

Bad weather meant that the planned route had to be altered with the alternative taking in fewer climbs, but with a second category climb and a steady rise to the finish line, as opposed to the expected special category climb, which would have provoked major time differences among race leaders.

That finish suited De Gendt, who is an expert at riding the hilly classics and is stronger over shorty punchy climbs than high mountain finishes and his power saw him to a win.

"It's incredible that I was able to make it to the finish," he said after the finish and his efforts also gave him the overall leadership with an advantage of 23 seconds over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) with Daryl Impey and Simon Yates, (whose brother Adam fell in the closing meters) 29 seconds behind in the overall standings.

The 'Volta' is a key early season race often used by riders to gain form for the spring 'Classics' and the Giro de Italian in May. Thursday's stage four is scheduled to take the riders 170.8 kilometers from Llanars to La Molina with two major climb in the closing kilometers, although a poor weather forecast means further revisions to the route could happen. Enditem