Vuelta Stage 3 reaction: Gilbert 's red jersey bonus, Brailsford on Team Sky's mystery illness

Philippe Gilbert of Omega-Pharma Lotto demonstrated his pre-World Championshiop form yesterday by winning Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana from Marbella to Malaga, and says that taking the race leader’s red jersey from HTC-Columbia’s Mark Cavendish was a surprise bonus. However, the day’s big news for British cycling fans was the illness that devastated Team Sky, with John-Lee Augustyn and Ben Swift both forced to abandon.

"It's a massive blow losing John-Lee and Swifty," Team Principal Dave Brailsford said shortly after the 173km stage had finished, according to the Team Sky website. "They physically just couldn't ride their bikes anymore - if you are trying to race hard in this heat when you're not right it's just an absolute nightmare.”

"Simon Gerrans was really sick during the day and Peter Kennaugh was ill as well but they somehow managed to claw their way to the end. Goodness only knows how much that pair and the other guys suffered today just to get through the stage,” he continued.

"Nobody has been feeling 100%. Marcus (Ljungqvist, 1st Directeur Sportif) and Rod (Ellingworth, 2nd Directeur Sportif and race coach) were on their knees while Tim Kerrison, the sports scientist, couldn't leave the hotel,” added Brailsford.

Although one school of thought was that Team Sky might have been hit by food poisoning, Brailsford said that that was unlikely to have been the cause of the mystery ailment, explaining: "Whatever it is has affected the staff and riders - we've all but ruled out food poisoning as the riders eat completely different meals to the staff. It's a strange one because everyone is vigilant with the hand gels and sterilising things thoroughly."

The focus now is on making sure that the team’s remaining riders recuperate fully, although of course with no rest day until next Tuesday, much of that will have to be done in the saddle. "I think now it's about survival for the next couple of days,” said Brailsford. “They'll all need plenty of fluids and the race doctor is here as hydration is a big issue in this severe heat and it's pretty important we do everything we can to help them to recuperate as much as possible."

Stage winner Gilbert, meanwhile, said that conditions had been challenging even for those riders who were fully fit. “I’ve suffered yesterday like 95% of the riders in the bunch and I’ve been dropped in the last three kilometres of the Puerto de Leon,” said the Belgian, referring to the second ascent of the Category 1 Puerto de Leon, negotiated twice on the stage.

However, Gilbert revealed that he had done his homework. “I lost maybe 30 seconds but I didn’t panic because I had studied the course really well and I knew what I was doing when I rode at my own pace. In the downhill I took a lot of risks to come back. I rode from car to car. When I made it across to the bunch I quickly moved to the first twenty positions to avoid any crash.”

Up ahead, Serafin Martinez of Xacobeo Galicia, who had got away in an early break before leaving his follow escapees behind on the Puerto de Leon, had seemed poised to claim what would have been his first professional win, but it wasn’t to be, as Gilbert reeled him in and passed him.

“I received a great help from my team-mates, especially Jan Bakelandts who closed the gap to the Galicia rider [Serafin Martinez] and Greg van Avermaet, so I managed to start the final climb in the first five positions,” explained the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider. “I accelerated 600 metres from the finishing line. I knew all the curves and the details of the route because I had done it in a car this morning. It’s a similar climb as the Cauberg in the Amstel Gold Race,” he added, referring to the Dutch Classic he won in April.

“I climbed on the big ring with a 53 and I rode fast: at 35km/h. I came to the Vuelta for gearing up for the world championship and with the ambition of winning a stage. The second goal is already reached,” he added.

But for Gilbert, there was also a pleasant bonus in taking the overall lead. “It’s a nice surprise because it’s my first leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour. Now I’ll do my best to respect this jersey,” he concluded, as overall leader Cavendish endured a torrid day in the autobus, eventually coming home more than 20 minutes after the Belgian.

Martinez was clearly disappointed to have been caught so late in the stage, although his performance did put him into the lead of the mountains classification, which he has led for 11 days in 2007, his first year as a professional.

“The Puerto de Leon was one kilometre too long for me,” said the Xacobeo Galicia rider. “I was creeping at the end but yet, with 5 kilometres to go, I’ve thought I’d win the stage because I heard in the radio that I had 1.30 lead but I looked back, and, Madre mia! The dream fell out. The polka dot jersey is a consolation price and I’ll try to keep it as long as I can but the main goal of our team remains to win a stage.”

Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Transitions, owner of an unenviable catalogue of bad luck and broken bones in Grand Tours, had an early scare when he slipped after riding over some over oil, but according to the team website, his condition isn’t as bad as had been initially feared. “It was not as unlucky as his previous Grand Tour misfortunes and he easily rode on after a quick service from our crack mechanics.”

Today's Stage 4 takes the riders 184km from Malaga to Valdepenas de Jaen and like yesterday is categorised as a medium mountain stage.