Kristian Sbaragli outsprints John Degenkolb in stage 10 of the Vuelta

A messy bunch sprint at the conclusion of the 146.5km stage from Valencia resulted in a surprise win for the 25-year-old Sbaragli, who held off a late surge from Giant-Alpecin's Degenkolb to give MTN-Qhubeka their latest major scalp of the season.

Sbaragli's victory followed that of British team-mate Steve Cummings at the Tour de France and underlined the African Pro-Continental team's status as a WorldTour outfit in waiting.

“Today one dream came true for me. Four times I have tried to do my sprint in this Vuelta and today I crossed the finish line first, I still cannot believe it,” said neo-pro Sbaragli, who revealed the presence of his girlfriend and family at the finish had given him extra motivation.

“It’s a victory for me, for the team and for the whole of Africa. I’m so happy,” he added.

Despite the best efforts of indefatigable race leader Tom Dumoulin - who retained his red jersey ahead of the first rest day on Tuesday - Degenkolb was unable to win the 10th Vuelta stage win of his career.

With stage five winner Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) withdrawing during the stage to join fellow sprinters Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) on the sidelines, Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner Degenkolb looked the man to beat on paper.

But the 26-year-old German found himself boxed in during the sprint and ran out of road in his bid to get back to winning ways in Spain.

Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar), Belgian Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) and Portuguese Jose Goncalves (Caja Rural) completed the top five from a sprint contested by a streamlined pack following a testing Cat.2 climb that peaked out 17km from the finish.

Dumoulin retained his 57-second overall lead over Spanish veteran Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) with Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) a further two seconds in arrears.

A selection was made on the Cat.3 Puerto del Oronet climb shortly after the start of the stage as forty riders formed a large group off the front of the peloton.

The presence of Colombian Sergio Henao (Team Sky) – at 3:13 down on GC, a clear threat to Dutchman Dumoulin’s red jersey – ensured the break was given short shrift.

The lead peaked out at little over two minutes before the race was brought back together with 55km remaining.

A counter-attack of five riders opened up a small gap over the pack, but Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep) was the only rider who was able to hold the peloton at bay for a considerable length of time.

The Dutch national champion soloed clear of his fellow escapees to build up a lead of around 30 seconds over the pack before being reeled in ahead of the final climb.

Sky’s day went from good to bad following the neutralisation of the first break, which had included Ian Boswell and Salvatorre Puccio as well as Henao.

First Nico Roche – fourth in the overall standings – crashed on a roundabout with 52km remaining in what was the Irishman’s second successive day of hitting the deck.

Then Henao lost control on the final descent of the day, losing his bike under the barriers and picking up a nasty series of cuts and bruises en route to finishing almost 11 minutes in arrears.

Before Henao’s incident three riders had managed to crest the summit of the Cat.2 Alto del Desierto de las Palmas with a narrow gap over the pack.

Frenchmen Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) and Romain Sicard (Europcar), and Italian Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) were reeled in with 4km remaining thanks to some expert chasing by the red jersey Dumoulin.

And when Australian veteran Adam Hansen himself had a pop inside the final 3km it was Dumoulin again who reacted first to nullify the threat of the experienced Lotto-Soudal rider.

But despite his efforts, Dumoulin’s team-mate Degenkolb was unable to live up to his billing as the big favourite – although nothing should be taken away from Sbaragli, whose persistence and strength were rewarded with a maiden Grand Tour stage win in only his second Vuelta.

COMING UP: Tuesday’s rest day is followed by a stage that has been described as the hardest ever in Grand Tour history. Taking place entirely in Andorra, the 138km stage 11 features no less than six high-category peaks including the brutal summit finish at Cortals d’Encamp.