UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Juan Ayuso leads the Volta a Catalunya after emerging victorious in a photo finish on stage three.

The Spaniard took the first major mountain stage by the width of a tyre ahead of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Primoz Roglic after the two pre-race favourites had burst clear of the peloton as the finish line approached.

Ayuso now holds a six-second lead over his Slovenian rival in the general classification with four stages remaining.

Spanish Soudal-QuickStep rider Mikel Landa, third on stage three and general classification, is a further five seconds back.

While the first two stages favoured the sprinters, with Brits Matthew Brennan and Ethan Vernon winning a stage each, the 218.6km ride from Viladecans to La Molina was one for the climbers.

Thursday’s stage four keeps the riders in the mountains, starting in Sant Vicenc de Castellet and covering 188.7km with a gruelling summit finish in Montserrat Mil·lenari.