Bicycling

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American Tyler Farrar won the fifth stage of the Tour of Spain on Wednesday in a sprint finish, while Belgium's Philippe Gilbert retained the overall leader's red jersey.

The Garmin-Transitions rider beat Spain's Koldo Fernandez to the line at the end of the 198.8-kilometer course from Guadix to Lorca in southeastern Spain.

Third was Britain's Mark Cavendish.

It was the American's fourth stage win in one of the three major Tours, after two stage victories at the Giro d'Italia this year and one at the Tour of Spain in 2009.

He was forced to drop out of the Tour de France in July as pain from a fractured wrist early in the event eventually took its toll in the 12th stage. But the 26-year-old made amends by defending his title in the Vattenfall Cyclassics one-day race in Germany on August 15, and again by sprinting to victory in Spain.

"It was a surprise for me today, I was ill yesterday, I had a bad night," he said. "This morning I was a little better...I produced some adrenaline at the finish."

The stage, which unlike those of the three previous days had no major climbs, was marked by an early breakaway by four riders—Jose Vicente Toribio, Pierre Rolland, Arnaud Labbe and David Gutierrez. But they were caught with some 10 kilometers to go, and the race was set for a mass sprint to the finish, initially led by Cavendish.

"It was a terrible sprint, in the last 30 kilometers there was a lot of stress and you had to be well-positioned in order not to lose your place," said Spanish rider Igor Anton, who won Tuesday's fourth stage.

Gilbert, who rides for the Omega Pharma team, retained his lead in the overall classification which he first claimed from Cavendish after winning Monday's third stage. He is 10 seconds ahead of Anton and another Spanish rider, Joaquin Rodriguez.

Thursday's sixth stage takes the riders 151 kilometers from Caravaca de la Cruz to Murcia and includes one category two climb toward the end followed by a downhill stretch to the finish.

The 21-stage Tour of Spain, which began on Saturday with a team time trial through the streets of Seville, wraps up in Madrid on September 19.

Standings from the 5th stage of the Tour of Spain, a 198.8km ride from Guadix to Lorca on Wednesday:

1. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 5h03min 36sec
2. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) at 0:00.
3. Mark Cavendish (GBR/THR) 0:00.
4. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/QST) 0:00.
5. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
6. Sebastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
7. Robert Forster (GER/MRM) 0:00.
8. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
9. Theo Bos (NED/CTT) 0:00.
10. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
11. Oscar Freire (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
12. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR/FDJ) 0:00.
13. Manuel Ortega (ESP/ACA) 0:00.
14. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 0:00.
15. Daniele Bennati (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
16. Gonzalo Rabuñal (ESP/KGZ) 0:00.
17. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/MRM) 0:00.
18. Manuel Cardoso (POR/FOT) 0:00.
19. Andreï Kashechkin (KAZ/LAM) 0:00.
20. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 0:00.

Overall standings after the 5th stage of the Tour of Spain, a 198.8km ride from Guadix to Lorca on Wednesday:

1. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 19h00min 06sec
2. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) at 0:00.
3. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 0:10.
4. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 0:12.
5. Peter Velits (SVK/THR) 0:16.
6. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/THR) 0:29.
7. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 0:49.
8. Frank Schleck (LUX/SAX) 0:50.
9. Rubén Plaza (ESP/GCE) 0:54.
10. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/KGZ) 0:55.
11. Nicolas Roche (IRL/ALM) 0:58.
12. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/GCE) 1:01.
13. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 1:01.
14. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 1:11.
15. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 1:19.
16. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 1:21.
17. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 1:24.
18. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 1:24.
19. Jean Christophe Péraud (FRA/OLO) 1:33.
20. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 2:08.