Gutierrez takes over at Tour Med

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Belgian rider Kevin Ista (Agritubel) took a win in Thursday´s third stage at the 36th Tour Méditerranéen ahead of French rider Jimmy Engoulvent (Besson Chaussures) in the shortened 70km stage.

Organizers reduced the stage from 110km to 70km in a course that ran from Maubec-Coustellet to Istres. A trio pulled clear of the pack, with Ista coming up big with the victory.

It was Caisse d’Epargne who placed hot potato with the leader’s jersey, passing the lead from Luis Leon Sanchez to Ivan Gutierrez.

“It’s a good thing that the jersey remains in the team and I hope that it will be the same on Sunday afternoon. I was very well placed in the last meters of the stage and I decided to take part in the sprint, but Ista is faster than I am and I had no chance to beat him,” Gutierrez said. “The stage of today has been a very particular one. Not only the roads of the course are really dangerous ones but the organizers also decided -and we don’t know exactly why- to shorten the stage. As a consequence the foreseen 110 kilometers were reduced to 70. And when you know that today we had to seat during more than 350 km in the bus for the transfers!”

The Med Tour continues Friday with 150km fourth stage from Greasque to Bouc-Bel-Air. The rolling stage features the Cat. 1 Col des Portes in the opening 45km.

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FILED UNDER: Road