Richard Karapas may have hit the crossbar instead of the winning goal in the rugged summit finish of the Tour of Pollogne on Monday, but the long-term-minded Ineos Grenadiers racer was satisfied.

After Przemyśl's explosive uphill finish, Kalapas, who finished in 13th place at the back of the lead group, looked upbeat as he sipped an energy drink in the shade of the small forest covering the summit of stage 3 before heading to the team bus and showers. [Teammate Ethan Hayter finished 11th, with Ben Tallet five seconds behind the lead group. Carapas explained that he came to Pollogne to make sure his form was built correctly for the Vuelta. And in the big picture, finishing in the same time as the leader was a solid result

"The final was very explosive, I didn't know it myself, but I knew it was very important for the stage," Karapas told Cycling News. I controlled the race at the beginning of the climb, and then, well, the best rider won," Karapas told Cycling News. [But after stopping the race at the Giro d'Italia, I have a good feeling here now and I can say that I am on the right path with the goal of the Vuelta in mind.

In Calapaz, Honatan Narvaez and Ben Tullett rode hard at the bottom of the slope and looked to be in great position to take the win.

However, Ineos Grenadier sport director Matteo Tosat told Cycling News that with two riders matching Higuain's time and Tullett only slightly off the pace, the overall result was not disappointing for the team.

"We set out with the intention of trying for a stage win for Richard, or for Ben," said Tourette. But Richard was racing for the first time since the Giro, and although he showed he was in good condition, he just couldn't muster up the strength in the last 400 meters."

"Nevertheless, everyone did well and they were in training camp, so we'll see what happens from here, day by day.

Tosat agreed that after a long training camp, especially on a climb like Monday, it can be difficult to deal with the sudden, violent accelerations and changes in pace that are characteristic of racing.

"We always come up a little short at the beginning. But overall I'm happy with the team's performance. [Salvatore] Puccio worked very hard from the beginning and Elia Viviani kept a great pace during the first 10-12 km of the climb.

"This is a great comeback race from the Giro. The important thing is to get back to my best, day by day."

As for the stages in Pologna, Tosatto feels that Tuesday's fourth stage, which has about 3,000 meters of climbing, will not help the process of continuing to wear down some of the top riders. Rather, Thursday's time trial, even though it has been shortened to 11 km from the original 16 km, is likely to be the deciding factor in the race.

"There is no doubt that Tuesday's stage will be much more difficult than today's, but there won't be a huge gap between the main contenders (probably around the top 20 overall).

"The time trial is a bit special, only 11km long, but really tough. So the GC is still open and we are one of the favorites to win."

Tosat is guardedly optimistic about Ineos Grenadiers' overall third-place finisher Hayter, who will compete in Thursday's time trial.

"He's had some great time trials lately. Like I said before, it's not a simple time trial. The first half of the race, the flat part, is a TT like Ethan's, and the second half is not really suited to it.

"But I have great faith in him and Ben Tullett. Of course, Richard's big goal is to get steadily stronger for the Vuelta. But he's in a great position, so we'll see what happens."