Movistar's Allejandro Valverde won the third stage and now leads the Vuelta a España this afternoon.
A 155.3km stage on a beautiful day saw the race go from Fausino V through the Basque Country to Elber (Arrette).
A group of eight riders in Andrey Zeits (Astana), Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM), Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Dominique Rollin (FDJ-BigMat), Sergio Carrasco (Andalucia), Nico Sijmens (Cofidis) and Markel Irizar (RadioShack-Nissan), got away early on.
They had a lead of three minutes but with 13kms to go that was down to under thirty seconds of a peloton which had British champion Ian Stannard on the front.
Inside the final ten kilometres and the break for the day was over despite Markel Irizar trying to stay away.
With seven kilometres to go, the final climb of the day - the Alto Arrette, started with Nicky Terpstra briefly leading before Alberto Contador's Saxo Bank team brought him back.
Nichola Roche (pictured below) was on the front with Chris Froome and Contador
Race leader Jonathan Castroviejo was dropped as Rodriquez, Valverde, Contador and Froome shot off the front.
Contador's pace was relentless. He launched attack after attack but Chris Froome stuck with him.
Under the flam rouge, Contador attacked again on the descent but it was Alejandro Valverde who took the 25 points and the win in a time of 3.49.37 ahead of Rodriquez, Froome and Contador. Nicholas Roche was 11th
Movistar's Allesandro Valverde now leads the race with Chris Froome fourth.
Pictures copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/KM