Movistar’s Francisco Ventoso sprinted to victory on stage five of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide.

The 28-year-old beat Matt Goss (HTC-Highroad) and Michael Matthews (Rabobank) into second and third respectively, clocking three hours, six minutes and 10 seconds on the 131km ride from McLaren Vale to Willunga.

General classification leader Cameron Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo) finished 13th, with Goss closing the gap on the Australian to just eight seconds ahead of Sunday’s final stage.

Team Sky’s Ben Swift, who won stage two, finished safely in the bunch in 10th place to lie 18 seconds behind Meyer.

Team Sky directeur sportif Sean Yates said: “It’s going to be a huge task for Swifty to try and crash that party and go for a second stage win.

“But Geraint Thomas and Greg Henderson should both be fresh to support him so you can’t rule him out.”