They had twice won in Vitoria. “GreenEDGE Wins in the Green City,” the headlines proclaimed. The pressure was on to make it three for three, and the Australian outfit did not disappoint. From the early chase work to the final lead-out, the ORICA-GreenEDGE Vuelta al Pais Vasco squad combined efforts to deliver Michael Matthews to victory on the third stage of the Basque tour.

Inside the first ten kilometres a group of six riders slipped clear from the peloton. True to the tactical plan they had outlined, Christian Meier and Esteban Chaves quickly assumed their spot on the front of the bunch to close the gap to the leaders. Four kilometres later, the race was back together.

Ruben Fernandez (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) launched the next attack. This solo breakaway was acceptable to the Australian outfit. They allowed Fernandez to extend his advantage out to the ten minute mark before they gave chase.

At the mid-point of the race, Chaves, Meier and Yates had pegged back Fernandez to just under six minutes. Inside the final hour, the gap had fallen below a minute. Fernandez rejoined the bunch with 33 kilometres still to race.

After the peloton negotiated their way around the final round-about, Gerrans hit the front with Matthews on his wheel. He did a long pull before dropping off Matthews to unleash his sprint.

“It was obviously always our plan to go for this stage. Having won it two times already, we committed two or three guys to ride from kilometre zero. Having the team totally back you up and fully commit like that makes my job a lot easier. It’s a relief to finish off their work.” - Michael Matthews