Race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) finished safely in the peloton on Wednesday in stage five at the Vuelta a España, and, without further ado, maintained his grip on the red leader's jersey on a day when the stage was tailor made for the sprinters.

At the end of the day Nibali was given a time identical to the one by stage winner Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE). The Italian rider keeps a three second lead over RadioShack-Leopard’s Chris Horner going in to stage six.

"Today was a stage that on paper favoured sprinters, with a flat finish and no big climbs. The breakaway went early and got as much as 10 minutes on the peloton before the sprinters' teams started working to bring it back. Garmin and Orica did most of the work and we were happy to ride safely and save energy for the rest of the Vuelta," said Astana Pro Team Director Sportif Alexander Shefer on the Astana website.