After a disastrous team time trial, Team Sky struck back in the best possible way when Chris Sutton took his debut stage win at a grand tour, out-sprinting Vicente Reynes (Omega Pharma-Lotto) at the end of a disorganised sprint into Playas de Orihuela. The Australian timed his final surge perfectly, jumping in behind Reynes as the Spaniard hit out for the line from the top of the final rise with 300 meters remaining.

Reynes and Suttton opened a substantial gap on the big-name sprinters gathering behind. When Sutton jumped out from behind the Spaniard with 75m remaining, Reynes was not able to respond as the Australian powered past on his right. As Sutton sped clear and celebrated the biggest win of his career, Reynes thumped his bars with frustration. Skil-Shimano's Marcel Kittel was a fast-finishing third, ahead of Garmin-Cervélo's Tyler Farrar.

Sixth place on the stage for Daniele Bennati was enough to move him into the race leader's red jersey at the expense of teammate Jakob Fuglsang, although the two Leopard Trek riders remain tied on overall time.

Source: BikeRadar.com