Chaos at La Vuelta: hailstorm forces the cancellation of stage 3

Stage 3 of the Vuelta a España 2026 has been canceled due to a severe hailstorm in the Pyrenees as the race approached the decisive stretch towards Font Romeu. The situation became so dangerous that the riders themselves, with Tadej Pogačar among the first to point out that it was not possible to continue, began to stop and seek shelter in nearby houses and buildings along the road.

The Vuelta cancels stage 3 after a hailstorm made the road impassable

The day had gone normally until the final approach to the Col de Mont-Louis, the first major climb of this edition. Rain had started to appear at the top of the stage, but the situation quickly worsened with a severe thunderstorm.

About 15 kilometers from the finish, the rain turned into large hail and the road began to be completely covered. Within minutes, the conditions made it practically impossible to continue racing.

Race stopped in La Vuelta due to a hailstorm.

In an unprecedented image, the cyclists stop the stage and seek shelter.

Follow the end of the stage on La 2 and LIVE at: https://t.co/uCqExDBqqO#VueltaRTVE23a #LaVuelta26 pic.twitter.com/OjmYOMGV9S

— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) August 24, 2026

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The images left a very unusual scene in a Grand Tour. Pogačar gestured indicating that it was not possible to continue, while numerous cyclists stopped and sought any place to take cover. Some managed to enter nearby buildings at the top of the Col de Mont-Louis, while others sheltered under doorways and small roofs.

The organization first decided to neutralize the race while assessing the situation, but the state of the road ultimately made any resumption impossible. The asphalt had been covered by a thick layer of hail, and both the subsequent descent and the road towards the final climb of Font Romeu posed an obvious risk.

With the riders already spread across different shelters and also trying to regain warmth, the Vuelta ultimately declared the third stage definitively canceled.

The storm arrived just as the battle began at the Col de Mont-Louis

The neutralization occurred at one of the most interesting moments of the day. The breakaway had been formed for much of the day by Olivier Le Gac, Ethan Hayter, Magnus Cort, Asbjørn Hellemose, Timo Roosen, and Mats Wenzel, always kept under control at a short distance by UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

On the slopes of the Col de Mont-Louis, Wenzel managed to break away solo while behind, UAE gradually increased the pace of the peloton. Lorenzo Fortunato later attacked in search of the mountain points and caught up with the Luxembourger just before the summit.

It was precisely in those kilometers when the storm reached its maximum intensity. First, the television images disappeared due to the difficulties of the helicopter and motorcycles to maintain the signal, and shortly after, the roads began to appear completely white from the hail.

Wenzel and Fortunato managed to contest the points at the summit before the situation forced the competition to be definitively stopped.

The cancellation also prevents the final climb to Font Romeu, which was to be the first mountaintop finish of the Vuelta 2026 and the first real test for the main contenders for the general classification.

Awaiting to know what will happen with the stage and the general classification

The main uncertainty now lies in the official classifications.

At the moment of cancellation, the race was completely fragmented between riders who had reached the top of the Col de Mont-Louis and others who had begun to seek shelter earlier. Additionally, there were still about 15 kilometers to the original finish.

The organization will now have to decide whether the stage is completely annulled for sporting purposes, if times are taken at some earlier point, or what happens with the points and bonuses earned before the neutralization.

For now, the official website of the Vuelta still does not show a classification for stage 3 or a new general classification, so it cannot yet be confirmed whether Tadej Pogačar officially maintains the same time and advantages with which he started the day.