The 70-kilometre stage remains undecided for a long time. Six teams of two pass the second intermediate time together. Flückiger and Stirnemann are already over a minute behind. Around 20 kilometers before the finish, the preliminary decision is made when the leading Germans separate from their opponents. Only the Spaniards Pedro Romero Ocampo and Alejandro Diaz de la Peña were still able to keep up. The two teams stay together until the finish. In the sprint decision, Kaufmann and Käss prove to have the faster legs and take their third stage win in a row. They extend their lead in the overall classification by one minute. Robert Mennen (GER) and Kristian Hynek (CZE) finished third.

Despite their seventh place, Mathias Fückiger and Matthias Stirnemann make up another place in the overall standings. They now occupy fourth intermediate place. The second Swiss team with Lukas Buchli and Hansueli Stauffer fared less well. Uncertainty in the start phase and a defect in the course of the race slowed them down to 16th place. In the overall standings, the Buchli/Stauffer duo dropped back to twelfth place.

The Swiss mixed duo Landtwing/Gerber continue unbroken in first place. Their lead in the overall standings is now over an hour on second-placed Kristin Aamodt and Daniel Jung.

The fourth stage of the Andalucia Bike Race starts and finishes in Córdoba. There are a good 73 kilometers and around 1,500 meters of climbing to complete, which are divided into three large and several small climbs.