Gerald Ciolek reigned supreme at stage three of the Ruta Del Sol in an extremely fast and exciting finish.
Gerald Ciolek sprints to victory at Ruta Del Sol. Photo: Supplied
The Team MTN-Qhubeka sprinter managed to out sprint Roy Jans (Wanty) and Moreno Hofland (Belkin) to take his first victory of the season.
In a day that was destined to come down to a bunch sprint, four riders still tried their luck in an early escape.
The break never got more than a five minute gap as a number of teams had an interest in bringing the race down to a bunch sprint.
The early leaders were inevitably brought back inside 12km to go.
Team Sky were at the helm with 10km to go but Team MTN-Qhubeka could be seen to have strength in numbers in the final kilometres.
Today stage four will bring the Ruta Del Sol to its conclusion when the peloton race from Ubrique to Fuengirola over 159km.
Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol (Spain) – (February 19 – 23/UCI 2.1)
Sergio Pardilla (ESP)
Linus Gerdemann (GER)
Daniel Teklehaimanot (ERI)
Jaco Venter (RSA)
Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU)
Andreas Stauff (GER)
Gerald Ciolek (GER)
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