Jay Vine claimed victory on stage 3 of the Coppi e Bartali for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, arriving to the line solo on the 142km trek from Riccione to Cesena.
Vine attacked with Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-Quick Step) just before the final climb of Diolaguardia with -25km to go, with the pair building up a slender lead of no more than 20 seconds.
The Australian rider would go clear solo over the top of the climb and maintain a small advantage on the wet descent. As the group chased behind, Vine opened the afterburners to put his time-trial ability to the test with the Australian putting in a gutsy performance to take his first win of the 2025 campaign.
The racing continues tomorrow in Italy with a hilly stage 4 that starts and finishes in Brisighella (150.4km).
Over in Catalunya, only a photo finish could seperate Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and UAE Team Emirates-XRG‘s Juan Ayuso once again. This time around, it was Ayuso who was forced to settle for second place on the day, ceding the leader’s jersey to the Slovenian but heading into Friday’s stage tied on time for the race lead.
With another impressive performance to add to a string of recent highlights, Ayuso ended stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya in the young rider’s jersey. In a repeat of Wednesday’s stage to La Molina, Thursday’s summit finish atop the Montserrat Monastery produced a barnstorming battle between the race’s two strongest climbers.
Although it was Roglič who ultimately triumphed, it was Ayuso who had made the biggest attack of the stage in the final kilometres.
Ayuso’s attack came with 2.6km to ride after his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates had performed their duties to the mark.
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