Mitchelton Scott said he was surprised by the gutsy performance shown by Esteban Chaves at the summit finish of the Picón Blanco on stage 3 of the Vuelta a Burgos.

The Australian team made a significant dent in the lead of the breakaway group in the last hour, and Simon Yates, Mikkel Nieve, and Jack Haig led the pack during the crucial 9-km uphill intermediate section.

After Mitchelton Scott pulled away from last year's champion Ivan Sosa (Ineos) and Spain's Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Chaves himself launched two attacks.

Chaves eventually settled for fourth place behind Remco Evenpole (Detunink-Quickstep), George Bennett (Jumbo Visma), and Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren), but coupled with a strong ride in Tuesday's uphill finish, Chaves' The performance left the team feeling "the glass is not half empty, but half full," as Lagunas de Neira, which Chavez won in 2012 when he was still with Colombia-Cordéportes, still remains.

"I thought this was a good race to prepare for future goals, and if I hadn't chased then, maybe I would have missed the stage win. So we took the race by the scruff of the neck and gave Esteban a chance to win a stage and he gave it a good enough try," Mitchelton-Scott team manager Matt White told Cycling News.

"Lockdown or no lockdown, you can see how hard everyone has worked. Esteban has been in Colombia for almost nine months and has benefited from working hard at home.

"Sometimes the travel and the continental shifts can interfere with training, but he's been at home and very stable. So it's a good start to a tune-up campaign for 2020."

White explained that Simon Yates' role is not to target his own GC, but rather to soften the terrain for Chaves and a possible stage win. He said, "If Simon attacks, not too many riders will follow. If Simon attacks, not many will follow. We needed a move like that to win the stage. So he went forward and we set a rhythm to bring the break back.

With the crash on stage 3 settled, the gap between the top four on GC is still only 35 seconds. Chaves is in the worst position of the top four, but White says nothing has been ruled out.

"There are no time bonuses on this course, and while there are fewer steep sections on Saturday, there are also fewer fast sections. We are going to put pressure on Remco."