Vinokourov solos to stage 3 win

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Astana leader Alexander Vinokourov pulled off his signature move to win the third stage of the Vuelta al País Vasco. The rider from Kazakhstan attacked with four kilometres left in the deceptively difficult 180km stage and held off the chase from a select group to win by eight seconds.

"It's my first win this year and the first in the Basque Country," said Vinokourov. "I have been here seven or eight times but never had any luck. It is a big victory for me and the team. Everyone expected a victory from the leader and here it is - and I hope that now I will reach many more."

Vinokourov said his demonstration today gives him more motivation to win another Classic, "Liège, if possible, and then I will start thinking about the Tour de France."

Now 10 seconds behind the new race leader Joaquin Rodriguez, he said he will take the race day by day. "Tomorrow is a very difficult stage. I would like to be on the podium, but it is very difficult and there are strong competitors, like Andreas Klöden."

Today's sprint for second was won by Rabobank's Oscar Freire, but more importantly Rodriguez (Katusha) took 10th, finishing ahead of overnight leader Andreas Klöden (RadioShack). Because the pair were tied on time, Rodriguez now assumes the race lead.

Heated racing in sunny Spain

The festivities kicked off in warm temperatures and under sunny skies, with the first attacks coming just after the flag dropped. Jens Voigt (Leopard Trek), Dmitri Champion and Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale), Noe Gianetti and David De la Fuente (Geox-TMC) and Higinio Fernandez (Caja Rural) made the first move, but were quickly reeled in.

Craig Lewis (HTC-Highroad), Oscar Pujol (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Alfredo Balloni (Lampre-ISD) were the next to go but could also gain no ground.

Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo), Damiano Caruso and Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Nicki Sorensen (Saxo Bank SunGard) continued the aggressive racing but were not successful.

It wasn't until HTC-Highroad's Tony Martin counter-attacked a move by Remi Di Gregorio (Astana) that the field began to loosen its grasp.

Martin stayed away solo until the top of the day's first climb, the Alto de Opakua at kilometre 41, before he was joined by Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank), Amaël Moinard (BMC), Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-ISD), Francesco Bellotti (Liquigas-Cannondale), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jerome Pineau (Quick Step).

The leaders gained a maximum of 3:15, but there was no cooperation in the group. Moinard attacked ahead of the second climb, the Alto de Zarate, drawing away Bellotti and then Pineau to form a more cohesive working unit.

The three remained in the lead until the approach to the final climb with 11km to go when several counter-attacks flew from the peloton. Martin Kohler (BMC) went clear with Serge Renev (Astana), and was then joined by Marco Pinotti (HTC-Highroad). Renev got dropped before the move was reabsorbed.

Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad), Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) and Kevin Seeldraeyers (Quick Step) then got away, but could only manage a dozen seconds over a determined chase by RadioShack, since Kolobnev was best placed, only 42 seconds down on race leader Klöden.

The three were in the process of being caught when Seeldraeyers went off-roading after touching wheels with Kolobnev, then it was all together.

Geox-TMC's Fabio Duarte made the next move and was followed by a number of riders, but over the top the lead peloton came back together.

It was on the flat run-in to the line that Vinokourov put in his effort, pulling out a handful of seconds over the yellow jersey group. The Astana man nearly halved his 18 second deficit at the line, pulling himself up to 11th overall.

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