Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) used a 2nd place finish in today's stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to take over the lead from Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge). The Italian sprinter was disappointed to miss the stage win, but saw his new jersey as some kind of a consolation.

The Vuelta al Pais Vasco has always been dear to Francesco Gavazzi's heart. With its hilly nature and no flat stages, the pure sprinters usually avoid the Spanish stage race, and this makes it the perfect stomping ground for a fast finisher like Gavazzi who handles shorter climbs extremely well.

In the past, he has already won twice in the race and after a troubled start to the season due to knee injuries, he saw the race as an opportunity to start clocking up result. After staying ahead of the crash on the final climb in yesterday's stage, he ended up 4th in the sprint, and since there are no time bonuses in the race, today's 2nd place was enough to take over the race lead on count back.

The leader's jersey was a nice consolation, but the Italian admitted that his objective had been the stage win.

"We had a strong headwind in the sprint, and I knew that Orica-Greenedge had the strongest sprint train here, so I sat behind them in the finish," he explained. "It's always better to win a stage than come second, but to take the leader's jersey is a fantastic consolation."

Team leader Alexander Vinokourov was actually set to support the team during the last 4 stages was waiting for his baggage in the airport when he watched his rider take battle for the stage win.

"This is great," Vinokourov said. "I have only just arrived and we already have a jersey."

The GC contenders take center stage in tomorrow's stage which finishes with 400 meter averaging more than 20%. Hence, it will be very impossible for Gavazzi to defend his jersey, and he will instead turn his attention to GC captain Jakob Fuglsang who he sees a serious contender for a top result.

"Jakob is riding really well, and the profile of this race is hilly with some very steep and long climbs," he said. "I can get over the hills, but I am not the favourite. We have a plan to get Astana to the podium here at Pais Vasco, and with the time trial on the final day we have very good chances at this race."

Starting tomorrow at 14.45, you can follow Gavazzi's day in the leader's jersey on CyclingQuotes.com/live. Until then, you can prepare by reading out preview here.