Frenchman Geniez, racing for FDJ, took victory atop the brutal Mirador de Ezaro as the sole survivor of the day's breakaway while the general classification battle began in earnest behind. Sky had held the red jersey after each of the opening two stages, first through Peter Kennaugh and then Michal Kwiatkowski, but Fernandez's second place, 21 seconds behind Geniez, was enough for him to take red in his debut Vuelta.