TOTANA, Spain (AP) — Spanish cyclist Pablo Lastras won the third stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Monday to take the red jersey for the overall leader.
The Movistar rider completed the 163-kilometer (101-mile) ride from Petrer to Totana in 3 hours, 58 minutes to finish 15 seconds ahead of three chasers in the searing Murcian heat.
Lastras, who dedicated the win to former teammate Xavier Tondo who died after a freak accident, broke away on his own about six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the finish of a leg that featured just two short climbs.
Lastras was emotional when talking about Tondo and the team's problems this year. Colombian teammate Juan Mauricio Soler is still recovering from the serious injuries he suffered in a crash at the Tour of Switzerland in June.
Tondo was killed when he became wedged between his car and a garage door one month earlier.
"We were due," Lastras said. "It was a deserved victory ... I was well motivated to lift my arms."
Lastras' overall lead over Sylvain Chavanel of France is 20 seconds after the QuickStep cyclist led RadioShack's Markel Irizar and Ruslan Pydgornyy of Vacansoleil-DCM over the line in second.
Irizar is 1:08 behind in third while Pydgornyy is 1:24 in fourth.
Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali of Italy trails by 1:59 overall in seventh going into Tuesday's fourth stage, a 170-kilometer leg finishing at the top of the 2,112-meter (6,929-feet) high Sierra Nevada ski resort.
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