Team Sky completely dominated the finale of today's flat stage in the Vuelta a Andalucia, with the team's famous train trying to set up Edvald Boasson Hagen for a sprint win. In the end, the Norwegian could only manage 7th and the team now hopes that tomorrow's harder stage will suit him better.

Richie Porte stood firm in second place overall at Ruta del Sol after a frenetic sprint on stage three into Sevilla. Team Sky hit the front in the closing stages as the pace intensified with Edvald Boasson Hagen well-positioned for the impending bunch kick.

A nasty crash took down a number of riders just inside the final three kilometres, with the Norwegian eventually sprinting to seventh place amid a blanket finish. With a core of riders to the fore Team Sky managed to avoid the late carnage.

Despite Roy Jans (Wanty-Groupe Goubert) initially raising his arms the photo finish revealed Gerald Ciolek (MTN Qhubeka) had taken victory, with Moreno Hofland (Belkin) completing the rostrum as each threw their bike at the line.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) began the 183.8km penultimate test with a 20-second lead over Porte and with no time bonuses on offer that margin remains the same heading into Sunday’s finale.

Sports Director Dario Cioni was happy to see the team dodge the late drama and also looked ahead of the final stage.

“The team were either at the front or at the back having done their job so we missed the crash," he confirmed. "It was a bit of a fright over the radio when the news came through but luckily everyone avoided it.

“The day was fairly straightforward until that point. Brad [Wiggins] did a good job stringing it out and keeping it in a line.

“Tomorrow should be an interesting stage and a lot of different things can happen. It depends a lot of what type of break goes, what teams are there and factors like that. We’ll take a look and make a plan for the day. It could well be another sprint.

“The stage is harder than today so there wouldn’t necessarily be the same guys there in the sprint. We’d like to ride for Edvald if that is the case, but we know the run-in is also a lot more tricky.”

You can read our preview of the race here.