MADRID, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Mads Pedersen (Trek Sagafredo) won his third stage at this year's Vuelta a Espana cycling race on Friday.

The Danish rider took advantage of a reduced peloton, in which nearly all the specialist sprinters had been dropped, to claim the 138-kilometer 19th stage of the race, which started and finished in Talavera de la Reina (central Spain).

The stage consisted of two loops of a 70-kilometer course, which included a second category climb, before a rapid descent into Talavera. The climb was enough to ensure the really fast men were unable to stay in the peloton and Pedersen's teammates ensured that happened, by setting a ferocious pace from the start.

Pedersen rode a smart stage, saving his energy until the closing kilometers when he showed his pace to finish comfortably ahead of Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious).

"It was hard to control the peloton, but the team worked really hard and everyone made a contribution," said Pedersen at the finish.

Both race leader Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and second placed Enrich Mas (Movisitar) finished in the peloton, with the same time as Pedersen, meaning Evenepoel maintains his 2 minutes and 7 seconds lead over Mas.

Saturday's stage 20 is a traditional 181 kilometers race through the mountains to the north of Madrid, taking in two first category and two second category climbs, before finishing at the first category climb up the Puerto de Cotos.

Sunday's final stage is a procession into Madrid, so Mas and his team are obliged to go on the attack if the Spaniard is to deny the young Belgian his first overall win in a Grand Tour. Enditem

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