Benatti, who rides for the Liquigas team, held off the challenge of Tom Boonan, the winner on Monday, to take the honors in the 170km stage, raced with temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius.

The other main protagonist of the day was Andalucia-Caja Sur rider Jose Antonio Lopez, who broke from the pack at the start of the day's racing and remained in front until brought back into the fold just 6km from the finish.

At one stage he had opened a lead of over seven minutes. But once the Liquigas and Quick Step teams began working for their sprinters, there was never any chance Lopez would be able to maintain his advantage.

The other main event of the day was a fall in the 169th kilometer involving German pair Andres Klodden and Stefan Schumacher.

Benatti maintains the overall race lead with an advantage of 22 seconds over Boonen, although that should change in tomorrow's 42km time trial around Ciudad Real.