Stage 3

The road

At the start

Bennati in red, a sting at the end

Bonus seconds have moved Daniele Bennati above Fuglsang on the same time, with four Liquigas riders at four seconds. Today runs on Tour of Murcia roads in August heat, and it is straightforward right up until the race crosses the finish line in Totana for the first time — then out over the Alto de la Santa, with barely ten kilometres of descent back to the line for late attackers to use.

How it was won

1. 1158 km to go

   Five clear early

   Pydgornyy, Chavanel and Edet jump after six kilometres and Lastras and Irizar join them. By 68 kilometres they have nearly eight minutes, and Edet has been stung on the forehead by an insect.

2. 246 km to go

   Alto del Berro

   Leopard Trek have the lead down to 4:28 at the summit, and behind them the heat is doing the rest: Cavendish slides out of the back with Kittel for company.

3. 312 km to go

   Lastras goes at the top

   Five hundred metres from the summit of the Alto de la Santa, the 35-year-old attacks the three men he has ridden all day with. He crests with a handful of seconds and throws himself down the descent into Totana until it is nearly thirty.

4. 4At the line

   Totana

   The chasers get it back to ten seconds with three kilometres left and then start watching each other instead, and Pablo Lastras has a whole kilometre to enjoy his first Vuelta stage since 2002, and the red jersey. Denis Menchov, meanwhile, comes in 3:06 down.

The result