Hailstorm Halts Vuelta a España Stage Three in the Pyrenees
Stage three of the 2026 Vuelta a España was abandoned on Monday after a severe hailstorm struck riders on the Col de Mont-Louis in the French Pyrenees, forcing race organisers to cancel the stage outright.
The peloton — the main group of riders — was climbing towards Font-Romeu with 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) remaining of the 174-kilometre route from Gruissan when the storm hit. Hailstones hammered the road surface and visibility dropped sharply. Overall race leader Tadej Pogacar was seen gesturing to the riders around him to pull off the course and seek shelter, according to BBC Sport.
Drenched riders took refuge in a nearby hotel while race officials assessed conditions. They soon confirmed what the weather already made obvious: the stage would not resume, and there would be no winner or podium ceremony. The official La Vuelta website published a notice confirming the cancellation due to weather conditions.
The abandonment leaves the general classification — the overall standings based on cumulative time — unchanged from the end of stage two. Pogacar, who won Saturday's opening time trial, still leads at 4 hours 58 minutes 40 seconds. Behind him, Belgium's Wout van Aert sits second at 9 seconds, with Britain's Matt Brennan third at 10 seconds. Brennan sprinted to victory in stage two on Sunday, a result that places him within touching distance of the red jersey worn by the race leader.
The top five is rounded out by Leo Bisiaux at 12 seconds and Finn Fisher-Black at 14 seconds. Stefan Küng and Jay Vine are tied sixth and seventh, both 18 seconds adrift. Further back, three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic sits ninth at 26 seconds, with Jordan Labrosse tenth at 27 seconds.
For a race that routinely sends riders over mountain passes in searing heat and freezing rain alike, the sight of the whole field sheltering in a hotel is still rare. Hail on a descent can turn an Alpine road into an ice rink in minutes, and organisers were not prepared to gamble with rider safety on a climb that still had a long, technical run to the summit.
The race moves on quickly. Tuesday's fourth stage — the first true mountain test of this Vuelta — is a 104.8-kilometre loop starting and finishing in Andorra la Vella, the Andorran capital. Short by Grand Tour standards, but packed with climbing. After a day lost to the weather, the mountains will have their say.
