André Greipel, the German rider, has won the fourth stage of Tour of Spain in Liège, Belgium, after a horrific crash in the closing kilometres ripped the peloton apart.
Greipel won a second Grand Tour stage of his career after the 226-kilometre stage - the longest at this year's Tour - travelled from Holland through to Belgium on what turned out to be a miserable day for most.
The win for the Columbia-HTC rider, the team's second stage of the Tour and 73rd win of the season, was overshadowed by a crash involving scores of riders in the closing kilometres. However, luckily it was in the final 3km and so those involved will be given the same finishing time as Greipel.
Meanwhile, Charles Weglius pulled out of the race earlier in the day. The Briton posted on his Twitter pager: "Vuelta over. When you're tired, you get crook, then you get dropped. Need some serious rest. Like until next season.
Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, of Saxo Bank, retained the race leader's golden jersey.
Wednesday will see the riders transfer to Spain before the race resumes on Thursday for the 174km fourth stage from Tarragona to Vinaròs.
Tour of Spain details
Stage four; Venlo-Liège, Belgium, 226km: 1 Andre Greipel (Ger - Columbia-HTC), 2 Wouter Weylandt (Bel - Quick Step), 3 Bert Grabsch (Ger - Columbia-HTC), 4 Marcel Sieberg (Ger - Columbia-HTC), 5 Marco Velo (Ita - Quick Step).
Overall
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi - Saxo Bank), 2 Greg Henderson (NZ - Columbia-HTC) at 6 seconds, 3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger - Milram) 8secs, 4 Tom Boonen (Bel - Quick Step) 9secs, 5 Bert Grabsch (Ger - Columbia-HTC) 11secs.
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