{"id":2109277,"date":"2026-08-24T15:35:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2109277"},"modified":"2026-08-24T15:35:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:35:46","slug":"hailstorm-stops-peloton-in-rare-stage-cancellation-at-vuelta-a-espana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2109277","title":{"rendered":"Hailstorm Stops Peloton in Rare Stage Cancellation at Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a"},"content":{"rendered":"
Heavy rain and pounding hail forced officials to cancel Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a on Monday.<\/p>\n
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A violent summer storm hammered the peloton as it approached the race\u2019s first major summit finale in the French Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es.<\/p>\n
Pea-sized hail pounded riders after they crested the day\u2019s first Cat. 1 climb, quickly turning the race into chaos.<\/p>\n
Tadej Poga\u010dar led the bunch off the road and the pack sought shelter in nearby buildings as the downpour intensified.<\/p>\n
Officials later canceled the stage as crews scrambled to clear accumulating hail from the finish area.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the security of the riders, stage three has been cancelled due to hail and severe weather. There will be no winner and no podium ceremony,\u201d Vuelta officials said.<\/p>\n
Although last year\u2019s Vuelta was rocked by protests that disrupted and forced the cancellation of two stages, abandoning a stage because of weather is exceptionally rare.<\/p>\n
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Stages are sometimes neutralized or shortened because of extreme conditions, but calling off an entire stage underscored just how severe conditions became on the road.<\/p>\n
Sun to storm in no time<\/h2>\nCrews worked to clean the finish line but officials canceled stage 3. <\/span> (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The 174km stage from Gruissan to Font Romeu was the last in France and first summit finale.<\/p>\n
Heat and even strong winds that blew the peloton into bits mid stage didn\u2019t hint of what was waiting in the French Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es.<\/p>\n
UAE\u2019s Kevin Vermaerke led the bunch up the day\u2019s main obstacle at the Cat. 1 Col de Mont-Louis (19km at 4.9%) when a sudden mountain stage pelted the bunch with rain and then hail.<\/p>\n
Video showed Poga\u010dar playing the role of patron<\/em> and he helped steer the pack to nearby buildings to seek shelter.<\/p>\n
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Race stopped \ud83d\uded1 Tadej Poga\u010dar says no more as Stage 3 of La Vuelta is paused due to poor conditions! pic.twitter.com\/WzYtcSmn8Q<\/p>\n
\u2014 Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) August 24, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Officials initially neutralized the stage and then canceled it after the final descent was wet and caked in hail leading toward the final Cat. 2 summit with about 10km to go.<\/p>\n
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The peloton was denied its first summit showdown of the 2026 Vuelta, \u00a0leaving the GC unchanged on a day when some reshuffling at the top was expected.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar appeared poised to attack after UAE Emirates-XRG controlled the stage and reeled in the early six-rider breakaway.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next: Stage 4 in Andorra<\/h2>\nHail forced organizers to cancel the Vuelta\u2019s first summit finale in stage 3.<\/span> (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The 81st Vuelta continues Tuesday with a short but explosive 104.8km Andorra la Vella circuit packing nearly 3,000 meters of climbing.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar keeps his nine-second lead ahead of Wout van Aert, with four-time Vuelta winner Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d in eighth at 20 seconds.<\/p>\n
The Vuelta leaves France and enters Andorra with three Cat. 1 ascents stacked up in rapid succession, including Envalira, Beixalis and Ordino climbs.<\/p>\n
The final Cat. 3 Alto de la Comella provides one last sting before a raging descent to the finish in Andorra la Vella.<\/p>\n
With half the peloton living in Andorra, including American Sepp Kuss, the climbers will want to put on a good show.<\/p>\n
And after missing out Monday, Poga\u010dar might be ready to pounce.<\/p>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2291851004.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated August 24, 2026 10:40AM Heavy rain and pounding hail forced officials to cancel Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a on Monday. A violent summer storm hammered the peloton as it approached the race\u2019s first major summit finale in the French Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es. Pea-sized hail pounded riders after they crested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2109277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2109277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2109277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2109277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2109277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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