Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The third stage of the Vuelta a Espana has ended without a winner after being halted because of hail.
There were 15 km to go when the hailstones hit, a kilometre from the peak of Col de Mont-Louis with a descent to follow before the final climb to Font Romeu.
It was cold, it was wet, and it was dangerous.
Vuelta a Espana race leader Tadej Pogacar, the patron of the peloton, signalled for the pack to slow, and as the route rolled into a more urban area riders disembarked and scrambled into restaurants, shops and hotels trying to escape the brutal weather.
Soon after the 174 km stage was officially neutralised, then with ice on the road and a threat of lightning, abandoned.
“For the security of the riders, stage three has been cancelled due to hail and severe weather,” race organisers said. “There will be no winner and no podium ceremony.”
Mats Wenzel of Equipo Kern Pharm and Lorenzo Fortunato of XDS Astana were on a breakaway at the time the race was called off, around 25 seconds clear.
Pogacar, the Tour de France winner seeking a personal sweep of the Grand Tour races, remains the race leader. The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates leads the general classification by nine seconds from Belgian Wout van Aert, with Britain’s Matthew Brennan another second behind in third.
Jay Vine, 18 seconds adrift of his team leader Pogacar, is the best-placed Australian rider in seventh.
The riders had already had to contend with strong winds, then rain, on the last of three opening days in France, but hail was too much.
Tuesday’s 105 km stage will go through the Andorran mountains. The short but tough route will feature three climbs where the top contenders are expected to separate themselves from the pack.
