(Reuters) – Race leader Wout van Aert outsprinted Australia’s Kaden Groves to win stage three of the Vuelta a Espana on Monday, the Belgian avenging his second place to Groves in the previous stage and holding on to the leader’s jersey.
Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was held off by Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in Sunday’s stage but did take the overall lead and at the end of the 191.2km ride from Lousa to Castelo Branco he tasted victory in his Vuelta debut.
Spain’s Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Euskaltel-Euskadi) finished third in the bunch sprint.
Van Aert increased his overall lead to 13 seconds over American Brandon McNulty thanks to the 10-second bonus for winning the stage.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)
