Bathurst professional cyclist Mark Renshaw provided a perfect lead out for Etixx-Quick Step team-mate Mark Cavendish to take the win at Sunday’s Clasica de Almeria.

Renshaw’s ride to the line was still strong enough to earn him a spot on the podium in third as he finished just behind Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar).

Renshaw won the Clasica de Almeria as part of the Blanco Cycling Team in 2013. He didn’t contest the event last year.

While the 183-kilometre Clasica de Almeria is regarded as a sprinters’ event, it still required navigating a tricky, hilly first half. 

Renshaw and Cavendish managed to do so as their Etixx-Quick Step team were the driving force in catching the day’s breakaway group.

Only 58 riders remained in the lead group at the finish, other sprint threats such as Tyler Farrar (MTN-Qhubeka) and Fabio Silvestre (Trek) falling off the back due to a crash just two kilometres out from the end.

Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick Step) started the sprint 450m out from the line and peeled away to allow Renshaw to provide the lead out up until the final 100m.

“Mark Renshaw led me out, and I was in his slipstream until 150 metres to go. By the time I went, it was just a matter of finishing off the race for the win. It was perfect. I am super happy and proud about the way the team controlled the race the entire day,” Cavendish said on cyclingnews.com.

“Today the team was really motivated. We started riding from kilometre zero. We were always in front, in the first 10 positions of the group the entire race. We also rode strong in the wind, and made the decision to break up the bunch in the crosswind after the last climb.”

A bunch of five riders made the day’s breakaway group at the seven-kilometre mark.

Their lead, at one stage, grew out to as much as five-and-a-half minutes, but going over the day’s final ascent with 66km to go, the group was down to three men and their gap was just 3:15.

Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Romain Sicard (Europcar) and Miguel Angel Benito (Caja Rural-RGA) were the three riders left in front after Van Overberghe (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Unai Intziarte (Murias) had earlier fallen back.

Along with the Katusha and Movistar teams, Etixx-Quick Step continued to work hardest in chasing the trio over the downhill final third of the race.

After catching the group, Renshaw and his team’s positioning at the front helped them avoid the late crash.

The Bathurst rider took not only his first podium but also his first top 10 of the season with the result.