Filippo Baroncini continued his return from injury with second place on stage 3 of the Vuelta Asturias.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider finished 26 seconds behind stage winner Edgar David Cadena of Team Storck-MRW Bau, who held on from the breakaway to win in northern Spain.
Baroncini led home the reduced bunch after a hard day in the mountains. The stage included 3,200 metres of climbing, but the Italian came through in good shape and showed he still has the sprint to fight for results.
It is his best result since returning from injury last month.
“Today, the plan was to go all in for the victory, because if I could pass all the climbs then the finish was perfect for me.”
Baroncini suffered serious injuries in a high-speed crash at last year’s Tour de Pologne. The Vuelta Asturias is only his second stage race since that comeback, but his form is starting to build.
His UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Adrià Pericas also finished in the same small group. That result keeps Pericas second overall heading into Sunday’s final stage, 31 seconds behind race leader Nairo Quintana of Movistar.
Baroncini said the team had planned to chase the stage win if he could stay with the front group over the climbs.
“For sure it was not an easy race, especially for me,” Baroncini said. “There was a long, hard climb, and 3,200m of elevation today.”
“In the past days I had a really good feeling and this gave me confidence, so I was already happy with that, because you see the race I had until now, this is exactly what I was looking for.”
“Today, the plan was to go all in for the victory, because if I could pass all the climbs then the finish was perfect for me. The team was perfect, they made a super good job to control from the second part of the race.”
“Unluckily, Edgar David Cadena went full gas on the last climb and it was not easy to go with him. Me and Pericas were in a super small group behind, and nobody wanted to pull with us.”
“It is a bit of a shame because the victory would have been possible with my good sprint, but we will go all in tomorrow to try again.”
Cadena won the stage in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 34 seconds. Baroncini was second at 26 seconds, with Jermaine Zemke of Rembe|rad-net third on the same time.
In the general classification, Quintana leads in 10:50:30. Pericas is second at 31 seconds, with Samuel Fernández of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA third at 1:22.
Stage 3 result
- Edgar David Cadena, Team Storck-MRW Bau, 4:08:34
- Filippo Baroncini, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +26 seconds
- Jermaine Zemke, Rembe|rad-net, same time
General classification after stage 3
- Nairo Quintana, Movistar, 10:50:30
- Adrià Pericas, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +31 seconds
- Samuel Fernández, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, +1:22
