Chris Froome (Team Sky) took the red jersey after Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana, after a bunch sprint which saw Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) take the stage victory ahead of David De La Cruz (Quickstep) and Froome.
It could have ended differently had Froome not picked up the three-second time bonus for the intermediate sprint. Had he not picked up the bonus, he would have seen De La Cruz take the leader's jersey, with Nicolas Roche (BMC) on the same time.
An eight-rider breakaway, which included Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), had went five minutes clear before Team Sky reeled them back after the summit of the Col de la Rabassa.
The challenge of Alberto Contador, in his final Vuelta, evaporated as they tackled the Alto de la Comella, with Froome taking the valuable time bonus which helped him take the leaders red jersey.
A group of four -- Froome, Romain Bardet (AG2R), Fabio Aru (Astana) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) -- led with under 5km to go, but were caught before the finish.
Nibali, Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), Roche, De La Cruz and Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) joined them for the bunch sprint, with Nibali taking the stage win ahead of De La Cruz and Roche.
General Classification
1. Chris Froome (Team Sky) 8 hours, 53 minutes, 44 seconds
2. David De La Cruz (Quickstep) + 02 seconds
3. Nicolas Roche (BMC) + 02 seconds