David Gaudu surged to victory in the third stage of the Vuelta Espana in Ceres, in Italy, on Monday edging Mads Pedersen and Jonas Vingegaard who, despite being deprived of a second straight victory, hung onto the leader's red jersey.
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The day before, Vingegaard powered away from his rivals in an uphill sprint to take the overall lead. Gaudu finished that stage third.
On Monday, at the end of a hilly 134.6 kilometre run from San Maurizio Canavese, Vingegaard was again well positioned as the pack came out of a final hairpin for a rising run to the line.
But Gaudu handled the corner better and when the Frenchman, who rides for Groupama, and Pedersen, a Dane with Lidl Trek accelerated in the home stretch, Vingegaard eased up, unable to match them.
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Vingegaard collected a four-second bonus for finishing third but Gaudu gained 10 seconds and moved level on time with the Dane.
"That was hard," said Gaudu at the finish. "I'm very happy."
The finish completed a tough day for Vingegaard's Visma Lease a Bike team.
They announced in the morning that 18 of their bikes had been stolen overnight from a parked truck and also that one of Vingegaard's lieutenants Axel Zingle had been forced to drop out.
The Gazzetta Dello Sport report that Visma lost bikes worth a total of €250 000 ($292 378), while Movistar and Lidl-Trek, who were staying in the same hotel near Turin, did not lose any equipment.
Zingle dislocated a shoulder the day before when he was taken down by Vingegaard as a group of riders crashed at the foot of the final climb on a rainy day.
On Tuesday, the Vuelta rolls into France on a 206.7km stage that starts in Susa in Italy, climbs a couple of Alpine summits and then drops down to finish in Voiron near Grenoble