Image 1 of 2 Mark Renshaw (Blanco) (Image credit: Ruta de Sol a Sol) Image 2 of 2 Wilco Kelderman, Robert Gesink and Mark Renshaw sport the new Blanco jersey. (Image credit: Daniel Simms)

Mark Renshaw continued the Blanco team's run of early season success in Spain on Sunday, winning the Clásica de Almería thanks to his fast sprint finish.

The Australian beat South Africa's Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) and Spain's Francesco Lasca (Caja Rural) after a fast finale two hour of racing.

While much of northern Europe shivered in the snow and races were cancelled, the riders in Spain enjoyed close to 20C temperatures and sunny race conditions.

David De La Cruz (NetApp-Endura), Pablo Urtasun and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) formed the break of the race, going away after 30km and they stayed clear until 60km to go, when the climbs and the Blanco chase put an end to their ambitions.

Movistar, Blanco, Caja Rural and Argos-Shimano all shared the work up front for their sprinters on the flat roads before the finish. However the Blanco boys were the best in the final kilometres and Renshaw finished things off perfectly to take his first win of 2013.

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