Spain’s Alejandro Valverde missed out on winning the third-stage time-trial at the Tour of Andalusia to Belgian Victor Campenaerts by just one second, but did take the overall lead of the race on Friday.

Overnight leader Alberto Contador finished third, six seconds back on Campenaerts, to fall one second behind compatriot Valverde in the general classification.

Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider Campenaerts faced a nervous wait after logging a best time of 14mins 55secs for the 11.9km route around Lucena.

Valverde and Contador were two of the last three riders to set off and were both inside Campenaerts’ time through the intermediate splits of the stage, but failed to hold onto the finish line.

France’s Thibaut Pinot, who beat Contador to Thursday’s queen stage, was fourth to drop to third overall, six seconds behind Valverde.

Saturday’s penultimate stage takes the riders 179.3km from La Campana to Seville over three category-two climbs before a flat finish. – Agence France-Presse

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