Tour of Catalunya: Stage Three

What has happened to Wiggo? He seems to have become somewhat of an attack dog all of a sudden!! Wiggo is possibly the last man you'd expect to attack on the steep final climb of stage three, but with a kilometre to go, he went off the front and in the process thinned out the group of riders quite substantially. Perhaps he was testing his rivals' legs or showing that he is prepared to attack. Since he's not a natural climber, we've become used to Team Sky setting such a fast pace at the front that no other rider is able to attack and make it stick, with Wiggo protected at the back of the Sky train and able to use his strong time trialling skills to his advantage in stage races.

It would appear that by attacking in the way he did, Wiggo has made clear that his intention is to win this tour and has demonstrated that he definitely has some good form. This obviously bodes well for the Giro d'Italia. Unfortunately, it didn't quite come off, as Nairo Quintana, the climber extraordinaire, ended up winning the stage, with his teammate, Alejandro Valverde, finishing in second place and Joaquim Rodriguez in third. Bradley Wiggins was fourth and credited with the same time as his main GC rivals, though due to time bonuses gained in the first stage Valverde is now in the leader's jersey, with Wiggins in second and Rodriguez third, both only four seconds down on the GC.

Prior to the final climb, it had been Nicolas Edet, Martin Kohler, Karol Domagalski and Lucas Sebastian Haedao who were in the front group, but they were brought back by Sky, only for Jurgen van den Broeck - who was looking to make up time after losing 28 seconds on the first stage - to attack. He was quickly brought back before Tom Danielson tried his luck. It wasn't too be, though, as Movistar demonstrated their dominance with a one-two finish at the line, taking a stage win and the leader's jersey.