Brown was part of an elite group that had formed after the long ascent of the Hoces de Bárcena climb. After a series of moves from Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) were neutralised, it was Brown who was next to attack as she initiated a move alongside Amber Kraak (Jumbo-Visma) with 27 kilometres to go.
That aggression lasted until 19 kilometres left in the race, when the pacemaking of race leader Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and SD-Worx brought the race back together.
Brown wasn’t dispirited and she launched another move with Chabbey at 9 kilometres remaining, quickly jumping out to a good lead. A disorganised chase behind saw the pair force out their lead to 30 seconds and allowed them to play 'cat-and-mouse' in the finish.
Brown forced Chabbey to lead out and with the chasing group approaching fast behind, Chabbey launched the sprint, but Brown had enough strength to overtake her Swiss rival and take the victory.
“I thought maybe this was a stage that could suit me,” said Brown. “It was aggressive all day which is the type of racing that I enjoy. I followed Elise Chabbey in the last ten kilometres and we had a gap on the group and I was able to outsprint her in the final. I’m happy!”
Brown’s biggest wins have been taken with bold attacks in the back half of hard races, so it was little surprise to see her deliver again in similar fashion against a world-class field.
“I had the plan that I would look for opportunities to attack and make a breakaway,” said Brown. “I was up the road a few times, actually, today, but it was the final one that worked. On this sort of course, it’s hard to know when the moment is, you have to feel the race.”
The chasing group finished eight seconds behind, with Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) taking third place in the sprint of a reduced bunch. Race leader van Vleuten was in the move and retained her margin at the top of the standings heading into Stage 4.
The Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta continues with Stage 4, one with a hard start of short climbs before a largely flat run into Segovia, where the peloton will again face some smaller climbs in the final kilometres. Watch Live and Free from 2.20am AEST on SBS On Demand or catch up with the best of the action the next day on SBS On Demand with the full replay and winning moment.
