Day 3 -- as it happened
A mere 14 seconds separated the top four riders at the start of the third stage, although leader Coma had the slight benefit of following his main rivals into the desert and the onus was on Lopez to perform accurate navigation from the outset.
By the first passage control, at , the leading quintet had been locked in a fascinating tussle for supremacy and Coma had the slight edge. He was running just seven seconds quicker than Gonçalves, but the pair had begun to