The stage was  174,3 kilometres long and ended at Lago de Sanabria. The front group with Jurgen Van De Walle had a maximum advantage of 10’27” but at that point Garmin – Sharp set up the chase. Orica-GreenEdge and Omega Pharma- QuickStep joined forces with the American team and gradually brought down the gap.

Jurgen Van de Walle was one of the final riders to get caught. In the final phase, he bridged a gap to Arnaud Courteille (FDJ) and they stayed away until 3,5 kilometres to go mark. The stage was decided in a bunch sprint in which Lotto's Greg Henderson finished 8th.

Today's escape was the fourth in a row by the Belgian team. On Sunday, Greg Henderson had led the way by going a three-rider move. The next day Vicente Reynes attacked and yesterday Dennis Vanendert was part of the action.

Sports director Mario Aerts explained the Lotto tactics.

Mario Aerts: “It was our intention to get in a breakaway today. Because there are no top sprinters here, there was a possibility that other teams wouldn’t give everything to catch the escapees. When the gap was more than ten minutes, we believed in it. If they would have had four minutes on the last climb, 31 km from the end, we thought it would have been possible to stay ahead. But there were only three minutes left. Wally battled till the end. If they would have made it to the finish, a stage win was definitely in the cards.”

“The efforts of the guys are big, that’s why they have already attacked four times. There is an excellent atmosphere in the team. The past few days we wanted to anticipate the hilly finishes. We took the chance and hoped the peloton would let them go. For the next days, the chances of a bunch sprint are higher, although we’ll have to see which teams will do the work. We’ll definitely keep chasing a victory.”