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Riders used their regular road bikes – some equipped with clip-on tri bars and rear disc wheels – as the rules stipulated that specialist time trial bikes could not be used. Boonen, who will retire after the 2017 edition of Paris-Roubaix, will ride disc brakes in all of his races this year, riding a Specialized Venge ViAS Disc at the Vuelta a San Juan, before switching to a Specialized Roubaix for the cobbled classics. Elia Viviani (Ita) Italy, at 35 secs

General classification after stage three

 1. Fernando Gaviria (COL) Quick-Step Floors, in 3-07-44

 2. Overall favorite Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain – Merida) was involved, but maintained his sixth-place standing in the overall and was relatively unscathed. Pedro Gonzalez (ARG), Equipo Continental Municipalidad de Pocito, at 9 secs

 9.
With a victory in the second stage of the Vuelta a San Juan, Tom Boonen becomes the first professional road cyclist to win a race on a bike equipped with disc brakes.