Paris (AFP)
The French Romain Bardet, who had not won since 2018, returned to success on Thursday in the third stage of the Tour de Burgos and at the same time took the lead in the general classification, in Espinosa de los Monteros.
The 30-year-old climber, absent from the Tokyo Olympics, attacked in the last difficulty, the Picon Blanco (7.9 km at 9.2%), and won solo despite a fall on the descent, with 39 seconds ahead of Domenico Pozzovivo (Qhubeka-NextHash), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and Mikel Nieve (Team BikeExchange).
This is Bardet's first victory for the DSM team, which he has joined this season.
The Auvergnat had not been successful since February 24, 2018, when he won the Classic de l'Ardèche.
Overall, Bardet is 45 seconds ahead of Landa and 58 over Pozzovivo.
On Friday, the penultimate stage in the 149 km long program will link Roa to Aranda de Duero without major difficulty.
© 2021 AFP