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Australian Michael Matthews has sprinted to victory in the third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country.
The Orica-GreenEdge rider edged Kevin Reza (Europcar) and Michal Kwiatowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in a bunch sprint to the line to claim the 194.5km ride from Urdazbi to Vitoria-Gasteiz in just over five hours.
Orica-GreenEdge have won twice before in Vitoria and they went into Wednesday’s ride as clear favourites.
“Everyone did their part today,” Matthews said after the team made it three from three.
“The team rode on the front, stayed around me all day and Simon Gerrans’ did a perfect lead-out.
“It was a huge team effort. Everyone committed to one goal and one plan.
“All I needed to do was ride the last 200 metres. I had the easy job today.”
After the peloton negotiated their way around the final round-about, Gerrans hit the front with Matthews on his wheel. He did a long pull before dropping off Matthews to unleash his sprint.
“I had to trust Gerro’s positioning and timing,” Matthews said.
“He’s done this finish a lot of times. He hit out around the last round-about, which came at 500 metres.
“He dropped me off at 180 metres, and all I had to do was put out as much power as I could until I hit the finish line.”
There was no change in the general classification as two-time former Tour de France champion Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) maintained his 14 second lead over fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) with Kwiatowski 20 seconds further back in third.
Thursday’s fourth stage could prove decisive as the race heads into the mountains with two category one climbs during the 151km ride from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Arrate.
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