Maes claims stage three

Nikolas Maes (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) sprinted to victory on the third stage of the Vuelta a Burgos, winning the bunch gallop to the line in Burgos. Russia's Alexei Markov (Team Katusha) finished second while Maes' teammate Ben Hermans crossed the line in third.

Italy's Fabrice Piemontesi (Fuji-Servetto) almost took stage honours, which would have been his first professional victory, but was caught 50 metres from the line after attacking alone with nine kilometres remaining in the stage. Piemontesi had stretched his advantage over the peloton to 20 seconds, but the teams of the sprinters would neutralise his escape tantalizingly close to the finish.

A four-second gap in the peloton, caused by a crash in the final two kilometres, cost Joaquín Rodríguez (Caisse d'Epargne) his race lead. Ben Hermans, second on general classification by one second entering the stage, was one of the 20 riders unaffected by the split and moved into the race lead by three seconds over Rodríguez.

"The stage was very windy and rather nervous and without the crash which occurred in the final two kilometers logically everything should have finished with a massive sprint," said Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), who along with teammate and race leader Rodríguez was affected by the split. "It is difficult to understand the commissaires' decision because considering the circumstances it was logical to give the entire bunch the same time. Because of such a decision we lost the leader's jersey."

Tomorrow, the riders face a 15-kilometre individual time trial in Ribera del Duero which should shuffle the general classification.