A short, steep climb to the finish meant that stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana was perfectly suited to Julian Arredondo and Trek went into the race with the plan to set up their explosive Colombian. However, the finale proved to be too much for Arredondo who is not at 100% yet.

The uphills and sweltering heat arrived for the third day of the Vuelta a España, resulting in slow, death march through the scorching hills causing the peloton to continously dump water on itself in a furious attempt of cooling.

The 197.8 kilometer stage began with a five-man escape, but with 50 kilometers still to ride it was a down to one brave soul, and 25 kilometers later the peloton was back to one large bunch, albeit not the full 198 riders that started the day.

Orica GreenEdge led the pace setting for the bulk of the race, their eye clearly on the uphill finish, and in the blistering fast finale all their sweat and hard work paid off with Michael Matthews sprinting to the win and the leader’s jersey.

Trek Factory Racing is taking each day as it comes, and their intention to fight each day for the stage win did not unfold as planned today. But with 18 stages still to race, they will have plenty more opportunity ahead.

“It was very hot, between 40 and 42 degrees all day, but that was the same for everyone, and everyone suffered today," sports director Adriano Baffi said. "It was not a stage for a real sprinter, and our idea was to have a train at the end for Haimar [Zubeldia] and Julian [Arredondo]. Julian was in the top 20, but honestly we expected more. But that is what we had today, that is racing, we tried, and now we look forward.”

The hilly stage, and uphill finish resulted in many time gaps, and an early molding of the general classification took its first shape today. Only 12 riders arrived to the finish in the same time. Both Arredondo and Zubeldia finished in a small group after the first split and currently hold 8th and 9th places in the overall (+20”).