MADRID, March 27 (Xinhua) -- British cyclist Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) won the third stage of the Volta de Catalonya (Tour of Catalonia) on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old finished ahead of Egan Bernal (Sky) and Dan Martin (UAE Arab Emirates) at the end of the first mountain top finish in the week long race between San Feliu de Guixols and Vallter 2000.
However, Yates' efforts were not enough to put him into the overall leader's jersey after Thomas de Gendt was able to dig deep on the last climb to cling onto the overall lead for another day, thanks to his advantage cut from 2 minutes and 47 seconds to just 23 seconds over Dan Martin, with Yates 27 seconds off the lead.
The early part of the stage saw a group of 11 riders form the breakaway of the day which opened a gap of almost six minutes, although that began to fall when the race reached the first climb of the day and the favorites' teams began to work to reel them in.
The break was reduced to six riders, but still had a lead of around 2 minutes and 45 seconds at the bottom of the final special category climb Vallter 2000 with around 15 kilometers remaining.
With around nine kilometers left on the climb, Pieter Weening had become the solitary leader on the road, while De Gendt began to suffer and slipped out of the back of the peloton.
Reigning champion Alejandro Valverde also lost time after Weening was neutralized by the big teams.
The Colombian duo Bernal (Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) went clear with six kilometers remaining, with Bernal doing all the work and Quintana happy to sit on his wheel, which allowed Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) to catch up and launch his own attack.
Martin and Miguel Angel Lopez were able to join the lead group and the five riders played cat and mouse in the closing meters before Martin launched an attack. Yates was the strongest rider in the final meters, finishing ahead of Bernal in second, while Martin was third.
Thursday sees another mountain stage between Llanars and la Molina, which contains two first and one special category climbs. Enditem
