Roberts wins sprint finish to claim stage three of Tour of Murcia

LUKE Roberts out-sprinted the likes of Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins to claim the third stage of the Tour of Murcia.

The topsy-turvy stage had a couple of significant breakaways but there was little to choose between the first 30 who approached the finish together.

However, it was Milram's Roberts who emerged on top in the final sprint, racing away from Vacansoleil's Sergey Lagutin and Astana's Josep Jufre to win in 4:16:47 hours.

Team Sky's Wiggins and Radioshack's Armstrong were both in the mix in the final stretch but finished ninth and 26th respectively.

Race leader Robert Hunter withdrew half way through the stage after discovering his wife had gone into labour, leaving Jufre to take over the yellow jersey.

The Spaniard now leads from Roberts and HTC-Columbia's Frantisek Rabon on 12:52:39 with Wiggins and Armstrong both 5 seconds back.