Dan Martin sprints to victory at Volta a Catalunya and moves into overall lead (VIDEO)

Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) took his second win of the season today when he sprinted to victory at the end of Stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya.

Following on from two flat stages, today’s stage was identified as being the first stage which would show who were the contenders to win the race overall.

The 172.1-kilometre stage from Girona to La Molina included the Category 1 climbs of Alt de Coubet and Alt de Toses in addition to two ascents of Alt de la Molina.

After reeling in the early breakaway, the peloton was reduced to an elite group containing most of the big names. The Irishman got a jump on the leading group inside the final kilometre and despite a concerted chase by Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Martin held on to win by two seconds.

Martin has now taken over the race lead, 6″ ahead of Contador with Bardet a further 2″ behind.

The race continues tomorrow with a 172.2 kilometre stage from Bagà to the 1,975-metre summit finish Port Ainé with another two categorised climbs en route.

General classification after stage 3
1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx – Quick-Step 14:08:18
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team 0:00:06
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:08
4 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:12
5 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:19
6 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:21
7 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:22
8 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha
9 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:28
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale Pro Cycling