Juan José Haedo showed great strength in the sprint at the end of the 146-kilometer third stage of Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia from Puerto Lumbreras to San Pedro del Pinatar and the Argentinean won no contest.
 
"He was tremendous in that finish. He knew exactly where to position himself in relation to Graeme Brown and I actually think he’s the strongest out of all the sprinters down here with both this victory today and the one on Sunday," said sports director Dan Frost after the stage.
 
"We’d actually hoped to be part of a break today, but six guys escaped early on and we had to do some hard work in the peloton in stead. Things were pretty much under control though and when it came to the sprint the whole team did a great job of lining JJ up," explained Dan Frost.
 
The overall standings were unchanged ahead of Friday’s time trial. The race finishes on Saturday with a stage, where there is a small but difficult climb towards the end. Will Contador strike again - or is it Valverde time? Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com to find out!

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Stage 3: March 6, 2008: Puerto Lumbreras - San Pedro del Pinatar (145 km):
1 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC       03:31:08
2 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           
3 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                         
4 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                 
5 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur            
6 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         
7 Diego Milán Jiménez (Spa) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo              
8 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems               
9 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems                       
10 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia                           
11 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                   
12 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                       
13 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                   
14 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                
15 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                                    
16 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
17 César Quiteiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                               
18 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                                
19 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         
20 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                              
21 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                      
22 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
23 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo              
24 Xabat Otxotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                 
25 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
26 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                      
27 José Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                 
28 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo        
29 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros                            
30 Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo             
31 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana                               
32 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                   
33 Sergio Domínguez Muñoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                 
34 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                        
35 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                     
36 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo            
37 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           
38 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia                        
39 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                   
40 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                       
41 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana                                       
42 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo           
43 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana                                     
44 Hernani Broco (Por) Liberty Seguros                                
45 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                  
46 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                
47 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                                 
48 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank                                       
49 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                 
50 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                            
51 Claudio José Casas Gallego (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur               
52 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                     
53 Rui Miguel Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros                             
54 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                                    
55 Enrique Salgueiro Alonso (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo         
56 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana                                       
57 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank                                       
58 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                            
59 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne                         
60 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana                               
61 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team CSC                          
62 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                        
63 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana                                 
64 José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                    
65 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        
66 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                      
67 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC                                  
68 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                
69 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                           
70 Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales (Col) Tinkoff Credit Systems       
71 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo              
72 Antonio Jesús (Por) Liberty Seguros                                
73 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia            
74 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team CSC                                   
75 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Astana                        
76 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC                                
77 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC                                      
78 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                        
79 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                       
80 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC                                    
81 Delio Fernández Cruz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                          
82 Josu Mondelo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                     
83 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
84 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo              0.15
85 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank                                       0.19
86 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi               1.02
87 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                1.11
88 Carlos Castano Panadero (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
89 Dimitri Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank                               1.42
90 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia                        2.00
91 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                       4.22
92 Jesus Cobelo Fojo (Spa) Karpin Galicia                          4.35
93 Jesus Ramirez Torres (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo          4.45
94 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo        
DNF Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros

Overall rankings after stage 3:
1 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo       12:49:33
2 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana                                
3 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems                    0.02
4 Manuel Vazquez Hueso (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                 0.06
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                               
6 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                 
7 Ricardo Serrano González (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems               
8 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
9 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                  
10 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana                                     
11 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                   
12 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo         0.26
13 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                  1.10
14 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                   
15 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana                                       
16 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                     
17 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                
18 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                   
19 José Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                 
20 Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                                 
21 Hernani Broco (Por) Liberty Seguros                                
22 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo           
23 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                
24 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia            
25 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo              
26 Iñigo Cuesta López (Spa) Team CSC                                  
27 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC                                
28 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros                         3.07
29 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                    4.23
30 Rui Miguel Sousa (Por) Liberty Seguros                          4.56
31 Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales (Col) Tinkoff Credit Systems    5.03
32 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo             6.08
33 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        
34 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                        
35 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
36 Gustavo Dominguez Lemos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                    7.50
37 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
38 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         
39 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                                    
40 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia                        
41 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                            
42 Enrique Salgueiro Alonso (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo         
43 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank                                       
44 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC                                    
45 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                        
46 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia                        9.50
47 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                    12.15
48 Sergio Domínguez Muñoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                 
49 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Caisse d'Epargne                         
50 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo        
51 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team CSC                                   
52 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana                                 
53 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Astana                    15.09
54 José Antonio Redondo Ramos (Spa) Karpin Galicia                    
55 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                       
56 Claudio José Casas Gallego (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur           18.05
57 César Quiteiro (Por) Liberty Seguros                           19.23
58 Josu Mondelo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                     
59 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                    21.27
60 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC                                     
61 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur           
62 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        
63 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                          
64 Xabat Otxotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo                 
65 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                                
66 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Karpin Galicia                           
67 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                       
68 Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo             
69 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           
70 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                      
71 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                  
72 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana                               
73 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                                    
74 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                     
75 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank                                       
76 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC                                      
77 Diego Milán Jiménez (Spa) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo         21.33
78 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo             21.58
79 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team CSC                      22.13
80 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi              22.29
81 Delio Fernández Cruz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                      22.33
82 Carlos Castano Panadero (Spa) Karpin Galicia                   22.38
83 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                       23.55
84 José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur               24.16
85 Antonio Jesús (Por) Liberty Seguros                            27.15
86 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana                                   28.51
87 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                      
88 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                            
89 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank                                      29.15
90 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                      31.37
91 Jesus Ramirez Torres (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo         33.41
92 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Gruppo Gallardo    33.42
93 Dimitri Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank                              38.02
94 Jesus Cobelo Fojo (Spa) Karpin Galicia                         40.55

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