Cavendish surrenders lead to Gilbert

Philippe Gilbert claimed victory on the third stage of the Vuelta a Espana today and in the process inherited the leader’s red jersey off Mark Cavendish.

Belgian Gilbert overhauled a late solo breakaway by Spaniard Serafin Martinez to win the 157.3 kilometre race from Marbella to Malaga in a time of four hours, six minutes and 12 seconds.

Having passed Martinez, Omega Pharma-Lotto rider Gilbert then held off the late challenge of Joaquin Rodriguez over the final kilometre to finish three seconds ahead of the second-placed Spaniard.

Third place went to another Spaniard Igor Anton, who was a further 10 seconds back, while Cavendish, who held the leader’s jersey after the first two stages of the Vuelta, finished well back.

That means that Gilbert, who won the Amstel Gold Race in April, is now the overall leader of the Vuelta, 14 seconds ahead of Rodriguez and 22 clear of third-placed Kanstantsin Sivtsov.

Riding in sweltering conditions of around 38 degrees Celsius, a group of seven riders – Biel Kadri, Javier Ramirez, Egoi Martinez, Mikael Cherel, Jelle Vanendert, Niki Terpstra and Martinez – formed a breakaway that saw them holding a lead of approaching 10 minutes over the main pack at around the 70km mark.

However, that had been whittled down to around two minutes when Martinez broke away on his own at around 112 kilometres, and for a while it looked as though the Xacobeo Galicia rider might hold on for a maiden Vuelta victory.

But his hopes were dashed when he was caught by the hard-chasing peloton with just a kilometre left, and Gilbert then kept Rodriguez in check as they raced to the finishing line to take the victory.

Tomorrow’s stage is the 183,8km ride from Malaga to Valdepenas de Jaen.