"Tomorrow and especially the day after tomorrow will be the decisive stages for the Vuelta a Burgos. Each day is chaos."

Those were the words of Astana's Michele Scarponi after stage three at the Vuelta a Burgos. Scarponi led his teammates across a hot and dry Spanish countryside on Thursday in pursuit of a dangerous breakaway through strong crosswinds.

Four riders escaped only after 70km of racing and stayed in front of the peloton to the finish despite the best efforts of Astana Pro Team to close a time advantage that reached three minutes.

Astana Pro Team rider Luis Leon Sanchez finished 15 seconds behind stage winner Vladimir Isaychev of Russia, but holds on to the purple leader's jersey with a 25 second advantage over his nearest rival ahead of a difficult mountain stage on Friday and an even more difficult mountain stage on Saturday.