Degenkolb takes a second Vuelta stage win

Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) who also won the second stage, finished the 168km ride that began and ended in the northern city of Logrono in 4hr 10min 37sec.

RadioShack-Nissan's Bennati launched a sprint as the stage reached its conclusion and managed to open up a significant gap but in the final metres but Degenkolb used his superior speed to respond and inched ahead at the finish line.

"It was unbelievable it was so fast. My team delivered me perfectly and I just did the sprint in the final 200 metres," Degenkolb said  "It was a relatively easy win with a lot of tension in the final kilometres. Two victories in five days. It's incredible."

The previous two stages included hilltop finishes and the urban circuit in Logrono gave the sprinters a chance to shine on a day where the temperatures reached 32 degrees.

Rodriguez (Katusha) finished safely in the peloton to hold on to the overall leaders' red jersey for the second straight day as well as keeping his one-second advantage over Chris Froome (Sky).

"Today's stage has gone well except at the end which was really stressful, especially the last lap," said Rodriguez.

Alberto Contador is in third place in the overall standings, five seconds behind Rodriguez.
The peloton was content to let Javier Chacon (Andalucia) ride out to an almost 12 minutes lead after he attacked on the first of eight 21km laps around the town of Logrono.

But the sprinters' teams, which included Argos-Shimano combined to erode Chacon's lead, catching him with 30km to go.

The victory gave Degenkolb the lead in the green jersey (sprint) jersey standings ahead of Australian Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE).

Clarke still leads Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM) in the the mountains competition by five points.

Stage six will take the riders from Tarazona to Jaca, a distance of 175.4km which includes two virtually back-to-back Category 3 climbs.

Stage 5: 168km, Logrono
1 John Degenkolb (GER) Argos-Shimano 4hr 10min 37sec  
2 Daniele Bennati (ITA) RadioShack-Nissan    
3 Gianni Meersman (BEL) Lotto-Belisol 
4 Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) FDJ-BigMat    
5 Elia Viviani (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale   
 6 Raymond Kreder (NED) Garmin-Sharp    
7 Allan Davis (AUS) Orica-GreenEDGE    
8 Lloyd Mondory (FRA) AG2R La Mondiale    
9 Leonardo Fabio Duque (COL) Cofidis    
10 Pim Ligthart (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM   

General classification
1 Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) Katusha 17hr 29min 22sec  
2 Christopher Froome (GBR) Sky 0:00:01  
3 Alberto Contador (ESP) Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:00:05  
4 Bauke Mollema (NED) Rabobank 0:00:09  
5 Robert Gesink (NED) Rabobank    
6 Rigoberto Uran (COL) Sky 0:00:11  
7 Daniel Moreno (ESP) Katusha 0:00:14  
8 Nicolas Roche (IRL) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:24  
9 Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar 0:00:36  
10 Laurens Ten Dam (NED) Rabobank 0:00:46