00:01Welcome to stage three of La Vuelta Femenina 2026.
00:06Another day, another crash after Vos on day one, this time the red jersey Nomi Rueg and the white of
00:13Eleonora Ciabocco.
00:15Both suffering breaks that saw them abandon the race after giving so much, we wish them a speedy recovery.
00:22Twice a stage runner-up, Franzi Koch is still searching a first win, but stepping into the leader's jersey.
00:29Demi Wollering may not be here, but her FDJ United-Suez side are back in red.
00:34The German champion through the chaos, now aiming to be the first this edition to defend La Roja.
00:40I could begin into Kopecky's wheel, but then she also had some bad luck,
00:43which I think, I'm not sure what happens exactly.
00:46Yeah, I could go around, so it was a bit of a messy sprint, but I'm happy to have second
00:52place,
00:52and then also my teammate in third, which is really nice.
00:54None of the big names have won out in the first two sprints as Shari Bossout stormed to a shock,
01:00but much deserved victory.
01:02Two stages, two first-time Grand Tour stage winners.
01:06Will there be another first, or will the Peloton star step back into the limelight?
01:12The Polkadot jersey remains in hibernation.
01:16No categorized climbs, but another bumpy day in the saddle north to A Coruña.
01:21The longest of the four Galician stages, it heads into a challenging final 25 kilometers.
01:27Who will have the chance to win when they hit the cobbles?
01:35This young duo working well to build a handy two-minute gap early on.
01:40Lidltrek's Felicity Wilson Haffenden inside the top ten, the best young riders,
01:44for company Sterre Fürflut in the changed Lotto Intermarschi jersey,
01:50from red to this special pink number to avoid clashing with the Vuelta's Roja.
01:55Franzi Koch wearing it with pride, the German already earning a standout 2026 win,
02:01having beaten the GOAT Vos in the Roubaix Velodrome.
02:05The highest-ranked home rider is Paola Blasi, the Spaniard 16 seconds off the leading time,
02:11through the convoy to reconnect with the fast-paced Peloton before the start of the long-descending section.
02:20Towards the final 40 kilometers, the bunch was starting to turn the screw down the road
02:25at 10 kilometers an hour faster, Wilson Haffenden tried to go it solo.
02:33The 20-year-old upping the wattage to drift away from Fürflute,
02:37the Belgian unable to follow the wheel of the Australian national time-trial champion.
02:43Time to find our cadence and see if it would be enough to produce something special.
02:50Nearing 20 kilometers to go, EF Education providing the power at the front to reel in the race leader,
02:56the tough nature of the ups and downs.
02:59They saw Gaia Rialini and Kirsten Faulkner again falling off the back,
03:04but time to still hitch a ride back into contention.
03:08And then some trouble for a number of riders.
03:13For a stage winner, I told her France found my Vex Swift going to be forced to chase,
03:16get to get back on.
03:17It's going to be a very tough answer.
03:18She's going to get herself back to the front of the race, though.
03:20Such is the pace of the Peloton.
03:22And mechanical issues also befalling Ashley Moolman Passio.
03:27Not easy to recover when you're fighting the gradients.
03:30Just trying to get back on the bike and we're climbing once again.
03:33And there's all sorts of riders with issues at the moment.
03:35Franzi Koch in the front of the pack, aiming to snap up some bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.
03:41But before they reached it, someone getting tangled up.
03:45And we got a crash behind at the back of the Peloton for UAE Team ADQ issues here for a
03:51rider still on the floor.
03:53Thankfully, UAE's Greta Marturano with a new bike and soon back on her way.
04:02Just under 30 seconds ahead as Wilson Haffenden picked up six bonus seconds before the sprint behind for the added
04:09seconds.
04:12Koch still the points leader.
04:14And how important would the two bonus seconds be?
04:17Lotta Capecchi now just eight seconds off the red jersey.
04:21Chapeau to Wilson Haffenden, but her brave effort ended as the Peloton took charge.
04:26Pauline Ferran Prevost leading as the star names rose to the front.
04:31Roman Passio alongside Kassianiwe Adoma Fini and Marie Garcia.
04:36Last year, she won a stage of the Tour de France Femme at 41.
04:40The Spaniard targeting a first success on her home Grand Tour.
04:45The attacks were starting to come thick and fast.
04:48But the one for the 2024 Tour de France Femme champion broke up the bunch.
04:53Kassianiwe Adoma Fini couldn't catch out the likes of Liana Lippet.
04:58But others were as Faulkner, who had earlier tried her own attack, was one of those to be distanced.
05:04And Franzi Koch caught on the wrong side of the split.
05:11The race reached the cobbles of A Coruña, but as they returned to the tarmac, Cédrine Cabal kicked.
05:18Alice Towers, a towering figure, gave her French teammate an extra second of surprise.
05:26As the Breton passed the Flamme Rouge, was the gap going to be big enough to take her all the
05:31way to victory?
05:35She's now into the finish rate. The road ramps up all the way to the finish line for the French
05:40rider for EF Education Oatly.
05:42What a brave move she has made right towards the end of this race.
05:46They are still sprinting. Absolutely full gas behind her, but I think she's got just enough to do this.
05:53Mouth open. Absolutely full gas effort here for Cédrine Cabal.
05:57Just a hundred meters to go.
05:59Inside that now, she's approaching the finish line. The road is about to level off.
06:02And she will have time to celebrate, going all the way to the line there, celebrating the stage victory.
06:08Cédrine Cabal, take a bow.
06:11A shorter escape than her 14-kilometer solo to the Tour de France Femmes stage win in 2024, but no
06:18less impressive.
06:20Holding off the charge led by Kopecky and Sarah Van Damme, the Bretons celebrating her first Vuelta stage win and
06:27two out of three for EF Education Oatly.
06:32We already won with Noemi, she took the red and after that she crashed.
06:38So we went from very up to very down and I think now we are back very up.
06:45Yeah, I don't know, it's a mix of a lot of emotion.
06:49Yeah, this one is for the team.
06:54A return to major success for Cabal, an overall an extremely strong showing by EF Education over the opening three
07:02stages.
07:03Sarah Van Damme kicking her way onto the podium in third, while Kopecky again second to an EF Education Oatly
07:10rider.
07:11Had the Belgian won, she would have led the race.
07:16Yet Koch's vital intermediate sprint bonus keeps her in red.
07:20The first woman this addition to successfully hold on to the jersey.
07:25Cabal wins sees her leap into third overall, four seconds separating the podium, although just one minute between the top
07:3333.
07:34Koch also remains in the points jersey with a 28-point advantage.
07:38It would have been just 10 had Kopecky not received a yellow card and lost 18 points for the incident
07:44that disrupted her own Stage 2 sprint.
07:48Laura de Scheper also holds on to the white jersey thanks to better results than her rivals.
07:54The Belgian with the same time as Gea Segato and Marianne Bunel.
07:58The trio 42 seconds clear of the rest.
08:02A last day out in Galicia brings back the Queen of the Mountain category into play, but still a punchy
08:08affair.
08:09The real question, can Koch stop Kopecky from snatching the red jersey?
08:14Don't miss it, and hasta mañana.
08:16Da da da da.
08:17I
08:17you
