Sam Bennett II of Holland and La Vuelta

Bennett celebrates his second La Vuelta win on Dutch soil.Peter Dejong (AP)

Tim Merlier, the theoretical sprinter of

in this Vuelta, had a paper on the bike frame, a small cheat sheet of the stage so that the flying finish line would not go unnoticed, just in case.

And, already underlined in fluorescent green, the kilometer in which he should contest the final sprint.

“I am confident in winning one of these two stages in the Netherlands, otherwise I would go home”, slipped the Alpecin runner, still bruised, although healed, from the slap he took in Paris-Roubaix last april.

"We are going to do everything possible so that Pascal fights for one of these two prizes because it is clear that he can," they whispered from UAE.

Pascal is Ackermann, another of the

on wheels.

But neither the two of them nor anyone could beat the reborn Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), who returned to hypersonic speed, who once again celebrated arriving before anyone else.

A bully on Dutch soil, first in Utrecht and now in Breda;

the king of the Netherlands.

The story goes that Breda was a special enclave during the 17th century due to its political and strategic importance.

This was witnessed by the 80 Years' War, a time when the Netherlands, led by William of Orange, tried to become independent from Spain.

A claim to which Felipe IV did not yield, that when he ascended the throne in 1621 he broke the peace truce because he considered the place to be an ideal place to maneuver towards other conquests.

And, under the command of the Genoese Ambrosio de Spinola, 40,000 soldiers besieged the city until the heroic Dutch defense, led by Justin of Nassau, raised the white flag.

Such was this defense that Spinola ordered that the enemy be treated with honor, far from humiliating him.

Moment that Diego Velázquez reflected in his famous painting

.

A domain, the Spanish, which would remain until 1637. But little of that has happened in this Vuelta with an orange touch, since Jumbo-Visma, a Dutch team, won the first stage so that first Robert Gesink and then Mike Teunissen -both Dutch - wear the red jersey;

and Julius van den Berg (

also) did the same with the polka dot, the head of the mountain.

“The Amerongen stop was a lump,” Van den Berg (EF) noted gracefully.

But the smile stayed in the

and the fangs on the road.

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Tour of Spain 2022: stages and route

“Wearing this jersey is not an opportunity that I was expecting, but I am going to fight for it for the team”, he warned before contesting the third stage.

His words were not trivial, because he soon put the turbo on after the starting gun and commanded another escape as he did the day before, accompanied by the Spaniards José Herrada (Cofidis), Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), Mikel Iturria (Euskaltel) and Pau Miquel (Kern Pharma), who repeated an escape attempt;

in addition to the Belgians Jan Bakelants (Intermarché) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto).

An escape that once again had, at least for Van den Berg, the fourth category port on the horizon;

again an ascent that was little more than a garage ramp, 400 meters with a gradient of 3.4%.

And, to his happiness, he was second, surpassed by De Gendt, but strengthened in his jersey.

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Summary and video of stage 3 of LaVuelta a España 2022

Meanwhile, the platoon shared efforts and cut seconds.

Now the Jumbo, now the Treck, now the Alpecin (although far from being the great hunter of the previous stage that served to neutralize the breakaways but not to catapult Tim Merlier in the final srpint).

A controlled chase at all times because it barely passed three minutes, time to admire the attractive and romantic landscapes of the province of Brabant, green I love you green, also the Church of Grote Grek, as the cyclists got off the

and they crossed it on foot, red carpet underfoot.

“The problem is that the wind is stronger - it was blowing at 20 km/h - and the route is more technical.

We will have to be careful with the falls and the fans”, explained Juanma Gárate, sports director of EF, just after doing the

with his family to face the race.

Precautions that, however, did not prevent the bumps of Filippo Conca (Lotto), Henri Vandenabeele (DSM) -he had to go through the medical car-, Itamar Einhorn and Michael Woods, who had to leave the race.

But looking back was never very good for the feisty De Gendt, who figuratively raised his arms again as he took the flying goal -followed by Pau Miquel to the delight of Kern Pharma, who justifies the invitation to La Vuelta with his performances -, at which point he let himself go to rejoin the peloton, which with 19 kilometers to go swallowed up the break.

And there began the fallow for the

, the high tension of the runners who wanted to take positions to catapult their bullets, also a small scare without consequences for Carapaz, who lost his chain and hit the ground a little.

Merlier and Ackermann showed their legs, but Bennett was waiting behind, who with 600 meters to go found the gap, privileged sense of smell, and gained the position to never lose it again.

Mads Pedersen, the other sprinter in the peloton with stripes, also repeated second place as he did in Utrecht.

British Daniel Mclay (Arkéa) finished third.

).

The red jersey, in any case, now goes to Edoardo Affini (Jumbo's third leader in three stages by the

), waiting for the peloton to look up at the mountains of the Basque Country.

But in Breda, as in the Netherlands, the platoon surrendered to its new king, the Irishman Sam Bennett.

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