David de la Cruz won the third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country ©Getty Images

Spain's David de la Cruz held on after a solo break to win the third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country today, claiming the overall lead in the process.

The 27-year-old, winner of a stage of the Vuelta a España last year, opted to attack during the final climb of the day, with 15 kilometres of the stage remaining.

De la Cruz faced pressure from Poland's Team Sky rider Michal Kwiatkowski and Australia's BORA cyclist Jay McCarthy but was able to hang on after the 160.5km ride from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastian.

The Quick-Step rider finished in a time of 3 hours 54min 25sec with Kwiatkowski, McCarthy and the pack three seconds adrift.

Australia's Michael Matthews lost his overall lead in the Tour of the Basque Country ©Getty Images
Australia's Michael Matthews lost his overall lead in the Tour of the Basque Country ©Getty Images

He has taken over the race lead from Team Sunweb's Australian Michael Matthews and now boasts a time of 12:14:54 in the general classification.

McCarthy is second, three seconds behind, with Spain's Alejandro Valverde now third on the same time as the Australian.

The race, a part of the International Cycling Union WorldTour, is due to resume tomorrow.

Riders are due to travel 174.1km from San Sebastian to Bilbao for stage four.

Two more stages will be held after that, with the race scheduled to conclude on Saturday (April 8).