Sergio Henao stormed into the race lead at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco following a rousing late attack on stage three.

The Colombian continued his sensational return to the peloton with second place on the run into Zumarraga, with stage placings elevating him into the same yellow jersey he wore in 2013.

Henao went clear on the brutal 20 percent slopes of the Alto de La Antigua, cresting the second-category climb first before plummeting onto the descent alongside Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and countryman Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

Kicking hard out of the final corner with 350 metres to go, Henao opened up his sprint early but was just edged out by Rodriguez at the line. Despite that near-miss his bravery was rewarded with the race lead.

Team Sky showed impressive strength on the approach to the final climb, placing five riders in a reduced lead group. David Lopez, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Vasil Kiryienka and Mikel Nieve backed up Henao ably during the finale, with Kiryienka accelerating with 4km to go to draw other teams to the front.

At the half-way point of the race Henao, who recently returned from a serious knee injury, now sits level on time with both Rodriguez and Quintana, while world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx – Quick-Step) leads the rest of the chasers seven seconds back.

After the stage a happy Henao told TeamSky.com: “I’m delighted to be back on the podium. After all the setbacks I’ve had in the last year I’m so happy to be back here. We’ll see what the next stages bring.

“I’ve felt pretty strong all week. The first time over the climb I tried to cool down a little bit and sit back. But I could see that a gap opened up quite quickly so I realised for the second pass that I needed to be at the front. The team did a good job in putting me in a good position and then I just went as hard as I could. I felt strong and it was nice to be able to take the jersey.

“The time trial here is usually decisive and it should come down to the final day. Quintana and Rodriguez are obviously really strong and they have strong teams to support them. Quintana won here in 2013 and I think he is still the favourite. We’ll see how the next few days go and see where we are at the end.”