Belgian cyclist Tim Wellens, from the UAE Team Emirates team, won the third stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a Andalucía-Ruta del Sol, held between Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville) and Alcalá de los Gazules (Cádiz), with a layout reduced to 160 kilometers and a finish that changed location due to strong gusts of wind throughout the day, while the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, his teammate in the UAE, remains the leader.
Wellens, who was crowned champion of the Ruta del Sol in 2018, knows the Cadiz municipality perfectly and in the future they should dedicate a street or a square to it, because the Belgian has won the three times that the race has come to Alcalá de los Gazules, in 2018, 2019 and this Friday.
By the way, the Belgian cyclist debuted his triumphs with the UAE Team Emirates, which he has arrived for Tadej Pogacar to climb the Champs Elysées in Paris and win his third step, although for the moment his job is for the Slovenian win the Vuelta a Andalucía, which he dominates with a 48-second advantage over the Colombian Santiago Buitrago (Bharain) and 52 over his teammate Mikel Landa and Carlos Rodríguez, who are third and fourth.
Tim Wellens, who won with a time of 3:47.12, gave his new team the third victory in Andalusia, which shows that he is the most powerful, having achieved full victories in the stages held, since the first two were Pogacar won in the province of Jaén.
The Belgian knew how to wait for the right moment to launch an attack in Alcalá de los Gazules, although before he got into a breakaway with 19 other riders, including José Manuel Díaz (Burgos BH), Samuele Basttistella (Astana), Ibai Azurmendi ( Euskaltel), Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar), Connor Swift (Ineos), Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural) and Dries de Bondt (Alpecin), among others, who got along perfectly despite the problems over the gusts of wind
In the last kilometers, nervousness spread and a selection was made with José Manuel Díaz from Jaen attacking in Alcalá de los Gazules, but it was in vain because Tim Wellens knows every street, slope and tile of the beautiful town and withstood the challenge, gave within reach the Burgos cyclist and won this goal for the third time, with an advantage of 14 seconds over the Frenchman Latour and 15 over Basttistella, on a day in which Tadej Pogacar is still dressed in yellow.
The fourth stage of the Tour of Andalusia-Ruta del Sol takes place this Saturday between Olvera (Cádiz) and Iznájar (Córdoba), with a 165-kilometre route and four mountain passes, three third-class and one second-category.