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LORCA, Spain: 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-kilometre 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 in the Giro d'Italia this year and one in 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" and "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 kilometres 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 kilometres 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 kilometres from Caravaca de la Cruz to Murcia and includes one 2nd category 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.
- AFP/de
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