September 8, 2003 – Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) showed he can win bunch sprints whether touring France, Italy or Spain. Petacchi won today's third stage after a quick gallop from Cangas de Onis to Santander, ahead of German fastman Erik Zabel (Telekom) and Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick.Step). Canada's Michael Barry (USPS) finished 19th. “It's always best to be at the front at the end of stage like this,” Barry said, “So I was doing my best to keep the boys out of trouble, myself included.” The finish was tricky once more, with the fast sprint coupled with rainy weather: “I pulled off with a kilometer to go as it was quite dangerous. George (Hincapie) pulled off too, finishing a few spots ahead of me – it's just not worth the risk.” Barry said the day was fairly straightforward, with ONCE setting tempo until the closing kilometers when the sprinter's teams like Fassa Bartolo and Telekom took over to bring it home.

Stage 3: Cangas de Onis – Santander, 154.3k

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3.24.13
2. Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
3. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon
4. Julian Dean (NZl) Team CSC
5. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron
6. Angel Edo (Spa) Milaneza-MSS
7. Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre
8. Alexandre Usov (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems
—–
19. Michael Barry (Can) US Postal-Berry Floor

Overall:

1. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 7.24.00
2. Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski
3. Isidro Nozal (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski
4. Marcos Serrano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski
5. Manuel Beltran (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 0.10
6. Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor
7. Aitor Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com 0.24
8. Unai Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com
9. Francisco Mancebo (Spa) iBanesto.com
10. Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) iBanesto.com
55. Michael Barry (Can) USPS