Gavazzi takes the sprint in Amurrio

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Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) won the third stage at the Tour of the Basque country, besting Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) in the bunch gallop to the line.

The teams of the sprinters timed their efforts to perfection, reeling in the four survivors of the day's early break only three kilometres from the finish, denying anyone the chance to counterattack and disrupt their respective lead-out trains.

"It was a hard stage today because of the weather, said Gavazzi. "I need a win for me and for the team. It was a tough finish and you needed to be at the front in the last 500 metres.I was and it worked.

"This is my second win of the season but my first big win in a prestigious race like Pais Vasco. It's my first ProTour win. I'm really happy. The team worked well all day for me. We closed down the break and then all helped me in the finale."

While Oscar Freire was unable to claim a stage win for the third straight day, the Spaniard was rewarded for his consistency by taking the overall lead from Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne). Valverde and Freire were tied on time entering today's stage, but Valverde was caught in a slight split approaching the finish and conceded two seconds to Freire. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) remains in third overall, three seconds behind Freire.

The break of the day escaped on the stage's first climb, the category 2 Alto de la Aldea, after 18km of racing. The early move included Egoi Martínez and Alan Pérez (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Michael Albasini (Team HTC - Columbia), Eduard Vorganov (Team Katusha), Iban Mayoz (Footon-Servetto) and Rémy Di Gregorio (Française Des Jeux).

Mayoz led the sextet over the Alto de la Aldea summit ahead of Albasini and Vorganov while the peloton followed 1:45 later. Vorganov, the best placed member of the break on GC with a 1:40 deficit to Valverde, became the leader on the road.

As the riders endured periods of heavy rain, the break steadily increased their lead over the peloton. Forty kilometres later the escapees crossed the category 3 Alto de Azazeta with a 3:14 advantage as Albasini bested Mayoz and Di Gregorio at the summit.

The lead sextet eked out its maximum advantage of 4:25 at kilometre 95 and their lead was pegged at approximately four minutes under the impetus of Rabobank and Caisse d'Epargne.

Albasini led Vorganov and Martínez over the third category Alto de Zarate, 67.4km from the finish, with a lead of 3:44 over the peloton.

Thirty kilometres later the leading sextet became a quintet as Pérez was dropped.

The break reached the final categorized climb, the Alto de Mendeika, maintaining a 55-second lead with 15.8 kilometres remaining. Mayoz couldn't maintain contact with the break, leaving Martínez, Albasini. Vorganov and Di Gregorio to press onwards to Amurrio.

The teams of the sprinters, cognizant that this would be their last chance for a victory, applied the pressure at the head of the peloton and absorbed the escapees with three kilometres remaining. Gavazzi took advantage of a strong lead-out from his Lampre teammates to claim his second win of the season while Freire, who clawed his way up to second in the dash to the line, took over the race leadership from Valverde.