Matthew Walls spent ~100 km in the early break while Ronan O’Connor limited losses to finish 17th and stay firmly in the GC podium fight on the Tour of Romania’s first mountain stage.
Stage 3 of the 2026 Tour of Romania was a demanding ~198.4 km mountain stage from Piatra Neamț to an uphill finish in Băile Balvanyos, featuring ~1,932 m of elevation gain.
It was the race’s first major endurance test and uphill finish as the peloton entered the mountain zone.
O’Connor retains podium spot
Barnabás Vas, Team United Shipping, won the Stage in a sprint from a small group in 4:26:54 (average speed ~44.6 km/h). He was followed by Enea Sambinello, Italy, and András Gusztáv Pakot, Team United Shipping, both on the same time.
O’Connor, APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery, finished 17th, 10 seconds behind the winner after a late attack in the stage, attempting to bridge to the front two riders with about 10 km remaining. A gutsy move that had the race leader in all sorts of bother in his wake.
i think i have a good chance. hopefully i can keep the podium and see what we can do after that.
Ronan O’Connor, APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery
The APS rider slips to 3rd overall on GC but just 2 seconds behind the new leader Pakot and is confident he can podium or better in Bucharest on Sunday.
100km Breakaway
Matthew Walls, APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery, was one of the most aggressive riders early on. He formed part of a four-man breakaway (with Cătălin Buta, Vincent John and Andrea Bruno) that went clear approaching the first climb, around the 25–30 km mark.
The group built a lead of nearly two minutes and stayed away for roughly 100 km before being caught on the early slopes of the Category B climb to Oituz (shortly after the 75 km-to-go point).
A brilliant ride by the young Walls, who also scored points in the mountains classification during the move. Looks right at home at this level!
Stage 4
Tomorrow’s (Saturday 12 September) Stage 4 Brașov to Ploiești, approximately 165 kms transitions from the mountains toward the plains along the Teleajăn Valley. It has a fast, largely descending profile that should favour organised sprint teams and a likely mass sprint finish.
O’Connor and his APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery teammates will be vigilant to protect his podium spot on GC.
Great website…informative and thorough