2010 Tour of Spain leader Mark Cavendish, battling with bouts of sickness, suffered a surprise defeat in Sunday's sprint finish in Marbella when he was beaten by Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus.

Widely rated the best sprinter in the world, Cavendish retained the race leader's red jersey but was unable to stop the FDJ rider claiming the stage by half a wheel. American Tyler Farrar was third.

"I proved today I'm in no need of improving to be up there with the best sprinters in the world," the 27-year-old Hutarovich said.

"I didn't do the Tour de France but wanting to prove I could do well after my non-selection for that event motivated me to race hard in August, where I won a stage in the Tour of Poland.

"That was the biggest victory of my season but this victory in Spain is an even more important success, my first in a major Tour."

Hutarovich's victory came on a day of intense heat, with temperatures peaking in the mid-thirties Celsius as the riders made their way over the exposed high sierras of Ronda in southern Andalusia.

Cavendish told reporters he had suffered so badly because of the extreme weather conditions that he vomited several times during the stage.

"It was a very difficult day, incredibly hot and the guys (his HTC-Columbia team mates) did an incredible job in tough terrain.

"I had goosebumps and I was throwing up I was that hot. It was only when we got to the coast and the weather cooled down that I started feeling a bit more normal."

Cavendish said that riding with a different team mate to usual key wing-man Mark Renshaw in the final kilometres could have made a difference.

"This race is the first time I've ridden with Matt Goss, not quite the same as when I'm with Mark but we're learning.

"It always takes me a couple of days to get into the rhythm of a major stage race too so we'll keep going and see what happens.

"It's always disappointing when you don't get a win after your team mates have worked so hard but stage five is another good opportunity and we'll try and take it."

The 2010 Tour of Spain ends on September 19 in Madrid.

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