Two out of three ain’t bad, at least as far as Daniele Bennati is concerned.

The Lampre sprinter took down Alessandro Petacchi in Thursday’s third stage of the Valencia tour in Spain, and this time there wasn’t a flat tire for Petacchi to hang the loss on.

“I am happy to beat him again because it’s never easy to beat Petacchi,” said Bennati, who bolted a bike length ahead of the Milram captain in the 151.8km third stage into Vila Real. Bennati also recaptured the overall leader’s jersey with time bonuses.

Bennati beat Petacchi in Tuesday’s opener, but only after Petacchi was forced to chase back from a puncture in the final 8km. Petacchi won straight up in a grueling uphill sprint on Wednesday, but Bennati timed his attack just right Thursday to score his second win in three days.

“My team was perfect today, but I was wrong because I started too soon and there was a lot of headwind,” Petacchi said. “I wasn’t too sure of myself today.”

The stage was divided in two by the Cat. 1 Alt de Remolcador midway through the stage and several riders tried to pip the sprinters by sneaking away in a breakaway. Among them was last year’s Tour de France most aggressive rider David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) and Joseba Zubeldia (Euskaltel). The pair held a three-minute lead over the climb, but saw that margin slowly dwindle under the brutal pace set by Lampre and Milram.

Their adventure ran out of steam with about 15km to go and a nasty pileup marred the final run into the finish.

The Volta a Comunidad Valenciana changes gears Thursday for the decisive summit finish at Alt del Campello, ending with a 7km Cat. 1 climb that will change the complexion of the leadership.

Such riders as Frank Schleck (CSC), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) and Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) are expected to surge into contention.

“We can count on Alejandro Valverde, Vicente Reynes, Iván Gutiérrez and Luis León Sánchez as four riders capable to fight for both the stage and the overall,” said Caisse d’Epargne sport director Eusebio Unzúe. “I think we can face with optimism the hard day that’s awaiting the entire peloton.”