Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r) put his usual aggressiveness on show in his grand tour debut when he was one of the final riders to get caught in today's third stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

"In my head, I told myself that a break would go more easily than yesterday," he said. "I told myself I would try once and the first time was the good one. I was better in the front than at the back. The road was rather dangerous in the mountain, there were lots of holes. I think I spent a better day at the front than in the peloton. We believed in our chances but in the finale I was told that there was headwind and with only two of us, it was over.”

The team's sprinter Gediminas Bagdonas was dropped on the climbs and so the Frenchmen didn't feature in the finale.