Trek Factory Racing were involved in yesterday's breakaway in the third stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia but it was the wrong rider who had slipped up the road. Being their protected sprinter, young Fabio Silvestre was asked to wait for the peloton.

The 183-kilometer third stage from Sanlúcar la Mayor to Sevilla ended in a large bunch sprint that saw Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) win in a photo finish over Roy Jans (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).  Team Belkin’s Moreno Hofland was third. Fabio Silvestre placed eighth after the team pulled him out of the day’s breakaway.

At around the 40 kilometer mark neo pro Fabio Silvestre joined three others - Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Martijn Tusveld (Rabobank Development Team) and Haritz Orbe (Euskadi) – that slipped off the front.  However, it was not the rider Trek Factory Racing wanted up the road, and thirty kilometers later Fabio had sat up and drifted back to the peloton.

“It was a bad choice. We stopped him because the strategy of team was to go in the break but not with Fabio because he is our sprinter,” said director Adriano Baffi, explaining the decision to pull Silvestre from the breakaway. “We realized when Sky and Movistar were controlling the race it was not good to keep him in the break.  He is young, and it was hard for him to stop, but it was a good lesson for him - it's the professional way. He spent more energy than he should have, but in the end he sprinted well and had a good result.”

Team Movistar controlled the pace until the last kilometers into the largely flat run-in to Seville, and it was a question of when, not if, the three riders up the road would be caught. The last of the escapees held off the fast charging peloton until seven kilometers to go, as the inevitable bunch sprint was already being formed.  A big crash inside three kilometers brought down a few riders, and held up others, but all were granted the same time as the peloton in the end.

The general classification remains unchanged as Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) continues in the red leader’s jersey he first won in the prologue.

Today Ruta del Sol ends with a tough, hilly stage.

“Tomorrow [today] is another chance for the breakaway, it is a lot harder than today,” continued Baffi. “It will be a good occasion for Markel [Irizar], Jens [Voigt] or Kristof [Vandewalle]. And if Fabio can pass the climbs, then we will look to him for the final sprint.”