Third stage win for Cavendish

Salamanca - British sprint king Mark Cavendish produced another trademark finish to win the 18th stage of the Tour of Spain here on Thursday, his third individual victory in this year's event.

Italy's Vincenzo Nibali retained the race leader's red jersey after the 148.9km ride from Valladolid to Salamanca.

The Liquigas rider holds a 39sec overall lead over Spain's Ezequiel Mosquera of the Xacobeo team.

The title decider is fully expected to come on Saturday's mountainous penultimate stage, a 168.8km ride which ends on the summit of the Bola del Mundo in the Guadarrama mountain range northwest of Madrid.

Thursday's route included no major climbs and produced no big surprises.

A group of eight riders staged a breakaway just minutes after the start, but they were reeled in with just a few kilometres from the finish, and it was left to the sprinters to fight for the victory.

Cavendish completed the stage in three hours, 27 minutes and 11 seconds, leading a pack of 13 riders who finished with the same time. Second was Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina and third Portugual's Manuel Cardoso.

The Isle of Man rider, who many consider the best sprinter in the world, also scored back-to-back stage victories in the 12th and 13th stages.

Cavendish already has a remarkable 15 stage victories from the Tour of France over the past three years and five over two years in the Giro d'Italia.

The 25-year-old had the honour of pulling on the Tour of Spain red jersey after the first stage when he led his HTC-Columbia team to victory in the team time trial, relinquishing the lead at the end of the third stage.

"It's me that crosses the line first but it's the guys who put me there," he said Thursday, referring to his teammates.

The stage "was technical, there lots of roundabouts in the last 20 kilometres. We dropped back with about four kilometres to go...I was panicking a bit."

But he paid tribute to his teammate, Peter Velits, the Slovakian who scored a surprise win in Wednesday's stage, who took the strain and "put in a kilometre in the wind, and that shows how we work together."

On Friday, the longest stage in the Tour takes the riders 231.2km from Piedrahita to Toledo and includes one category two climb near the start.

The Tour of Spain, the third of the Grand Tours after the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, wraps up in Madrid on Sunday.

Stage 18 results:

1. Mark Cavendish, Britain, Team HTC-Columbia, 3 hours, 27 minutes, 11 seconds.
2. Juan Jose Haedo, Argentina, Saxo Bank, same time.
3. Manuel Cardoso, Portugal, Footon-Servetto, same time.
4. Tyler Farrar, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, same time.
5. Samuel Dumoulin, France, Cofidis, same time.
6. Robert Forster, Germany, Team Milram, same time.
7. Enrique Mata, Spain, Footon-Servetto, same time.
8. Greg van Avermaet, Belgium, Omega Pharma-Lotto, same time.
9. Wouter Weylandt, Belgium, Quick Step, same time.
10. Danilo Hondo, Germany, Lampre-Farnese Vini, same time.

Overall Standings

1. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas-Doimo, 74 hours, 47 minutes, 6 seconds.
2. Ezequiel Mosquera, Spain, Xacobeo Galicia, 38 seconds behind.
3. Peter Velilts, Slovakia, HTC-Columbia, 1:59.
4. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 3:43.
5. Joaquin Rodriguez, Spain, Team Katusha, 3:48.
6. Xavier Tondo, Spain, Cervelo, 3:48.
7. Thomas Danielson, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 3:58.
8. Nicholas Roche, Ireland, AG2R La Mondiale, 4:02.
9. Carlos Sastre, Spain, Cervelo, 4:16.
10. Luis Leon Sanchez, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, 5:42.