On the topic of the weather, and without wanting to make this more like a Met Office blog than a cycling article, there will have been nervous eyes cast skywards as the riders woke up this morning. Conditions atop Vallter 2000 are reported to be getting worse during the day, with snow forecast – and there was certainly no shortage of snow clouds forming on stage three.

Should the big summit finish – won last year by Nairo Quintana – have to be re-routed, the importance of Joaquim Rodriguez’s victory on La Molina will increase ten-fold. His victory gave him a narrow overall lead, with plenty of time for a rider to obliterate the advantage with a strong ride on Vallter 2000. Without the big summit finish however, Rodriguez is a stage closer to overall victory and the opportunities to cut into his slender advantage are reduced.