Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) took his first win of the season in today's third stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia in a very close sprint against Roy Jans (Wanty), Moreno Hofland (Belkin), and Nikias Arndt (Giant-Shimano). The German had to wait several minutes before getting the official confirmation of his win on a straightforward day that saw Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) easily defend his leader's jersey.

Gerald Ciolek has opened both his own and MTN Qhubeka's tally on European soil by winning today's first sprint of the Vuelta a Andalucia in a truly nail-biting finale. Having gone head to head with Roy Jans, Moreno Hofland, and Nikias Arndt in a very level sprint, the four riders almost crossed the line simultaneously, with TV images unable to reveal the winner.

Jans raised his arms in celebration and even stated in an interview on Eurosport that he was convinced that he had been the one to cross the line in first position. The commissaires had to spend some time studying the photos before announcing that the Belgian had to settle for 2nd.

Instead, Ciolek can now celebrate his first win of the season after a straightforward sprint stage that saw several teams combine forces to control the early break. The Milan-Sanremo winner was always well-protected during the stage and his team gave him perfect support on the finale.

Team Sky tried to lead out Edvald Boasson Hagen, with Geraint Thomas hitting the front inside the final kilometre. However, MTN Qhubeka refused to be swamped by the British team and Andreas Stauff went head to head with Thomas on the finishing straight, with Ciolek perfectly positioned on his wheel.

Arndt opened a long sprint and while Boasson Hagen drifted backwards, it came to a close battle between the top 4 finishers on the day. In the end, Ciolek was the fastest, without even realizing it himself.

Alejandro Valverde enjoyed an easy day in the saddle and the Spaniard avoided a big crash in the finale to safely cross the line in the main bunch. He keeps his 20-second lead over Richie Porte ahead of tomorrow's final stage.

The final 159.8km have a very hilly start, kicking off with a big category 1 mountain but the final 60km are predominantly downhill. A sprint from a reduced peloton is expected but many riders will be eager to go on the attack in the unpredictable stage.

One for the sprinters

After two days in the mountains, the 183.8km second stage from Sanlucar la Mayor to Sevilla was one for the sprinters. The course was almost entirely flat and with only two category 3 climbs at the midpoint, there was nothing to really prevent the fast finishers from coming to the fore.

Despite the sprinters' aspirations, several riders decided that they would have a go in today's breakaway. The start to the stage was extremely fast with numerous attacks and it took a long time for the break to be established. After 25.6km, things were still together when Yves Lampaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) beat Andrey Zeits (Astana) and Benat Txoperena (Euskadi) in the first intermediate sprint.

The break is formed

The riders got to the 38km mark before the elastic finally snapped. Martijn Tusveld (Rabobank), Fabio Silvestre (Trek), Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen), and Haritz Orbe (Euskadi) took off and after 40km, they were already 1.15 ahead as the peloton now took a breather.

Theuns beat Tusveld and Orbe in the second intermediate sprint after 51km of racing and he was also first across the line at the third one, this time ahead of Silvestre and Tusveld. The gap reached a maximum of 4.00 before the peloton decided that it was time to get things under control.

Sky in control

The main group brought it down to 3.30 and for a long time, they kept it stable between 3.00 and 3.30. The team doing the main work was Sky who were keen to get Boasson Hagen up there in the sprint. Silvestre decided that it was better to save himself for the sprint and so he fell back to the peloton while his three former companions marshalled on.

Orbe beat Tusveld and Theuns at the top of the first climb while the order of the former two were switched on the second one. At this time, the gap was brought down to just 2.20 and the peloton had everything under control.

Four teams lead the chase

The gap was kept stable between the 2- and 3-minute marks for some time but when Sky got assistance from several other teams, the it started to come further down. For a long time, Xabier Zandio (Sky), Francis De Greef (Wanty), Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol) and Yoann Bagot (Cofidis) swapped turns on the front, eager to get their sprinters Boasson Hagen, Jans, Jens Debusschere and Stephane Poulhies up there.

With 40km to go, the gap was down to 1.50 and 10km further up the road, the escapees only had 1.15 in hand. For some time, the gap was kept stable at around a minute but inside the final 20km, the peloton decided to accelerate.

De Greef does the work

With 13km to go, De Greef was the lone rider to do the work as Movistar had now moved up onto the Belgian's wheel. The was only 30 seconds and so Tusveld decided to attack, leaving Orbe behind.

With 8km to go, Movistar hit the front with Ruben Plaza to safely protect Valverde while up ahead Theuns decided to attack. Tusveld tried to respond but had no more energy and was quickly swallowed up by the bunch.

Wiggins on the front

Lars Petter Nordhaug took a huge turn for Belkin which ended Theuns' escape. With 5km to go, Sky launched their train, with Bradley Wiggins upping the pace significantly.

Vasil Kiriyenka and Peter Kennaugh were next in line as the British team appeared to have everything under control. Unfortunately, a big crash happened in the front end of the peloton but as it was inside the final 3km, it will have no influence on the GC.

Kennaugh sets the pace

Kennaugh led the peloton all the way to the flamme rouge when MTN Qhubeka tried to go head to head with the British team. A Belkin rider took over on the front until Thomas tried to launch Boasson Hagen.

All appeared to be perfect for Sky until they got swamped by the long sprint from Arndt, and it was the German who fought it out against Ciolek, Jans, and Hofland, with Ciolek taking the narrow win.