Yesterday’s gap in the peloton at the finish line cost Chris Horner (RadioShack-Leopard) his red leader’s jersey in the Vuelta a España, but since the deficit to race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) is only three seconds, RadioShack-Leopard could afford the luxury of allowing other teams to assume the responsibility of reeling in breakaway attempts and enjoy a relatively easy ride on the today’s 5th stage that ended in a group sprint.

Chris Horner was one of the riders who benefitted from a comparatively relaxing day.

"It gives less work to race with the white jersey [of the combined classification] than the red but the red is still more enjoyable," Horner explained. "The race was really easy today until the first climb, but from there until the finish, it went full gas. We rode all the climbs at the maximum because it was difficult to catch the breakaways.”