Ben Swift sprinted to third spot on stage three at the Vuelta a Burgos while Sergio Henao retained second overall for Team Sky.
Breschel (Rabobank) was first into the final corner as the peloton tore into Lerma, holding off Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-BigMat) and Swift on the cobbled finishing straight, each rider fighting to position themselves on the thin strip of tarmac down the middle of the road.
The victory was the first of the season for Breschel after his Rabobank squad had joined Team Sky in an intense fight in the final kilometres to set up the sprint.
It took Team Sky finally arriving on the front inside the final 20 kilometres to drag back the break which had been clear for most of the day, the team coming to the fore again for the second time to seize control inside 5km to go.
With the peloton splitting behind a final corner crash it was Daniel Moreno (Katusha) who benefitted from the bunch sprint to maintain a two-second advantage at the top of the standings over Henao. With no time bonuses it means that Rigoberto Urán also lies in wait in 10th.
Sprint stage
Unsurprisingly the sprinters were ready for action ahead of 159km of action as the race rolled out of Santo Domingo De Silos.
On the road it was David Lopez (Movistar), Jose Vicente Toribio (Andalucia) and Alessandro Donati (Acqua & Sapone) making tracks early, opening out a maximum advantage of 5:22 to form the day’s breakaway.
Katusha helped to control the peloton on behalf of Moreno alongside Team Sky and Liquigas-Cannondale with things hotting up as the race closed in on the finish.
With the peloton drawing closer Lopez pushed onwards, while Paul Martens (Rabobank) was among those riders who tried and jump clear on the third category Alto del Majadal.
Katusha hit the front with numbers before Juan Antonio Flecha and Team Sky took up the gauntlet, the margin to the escapees tumbling in the process.
Consistency
Sports Director Marcus Ljungqvist summed up the day after another strong showing from the team.
He said: “Like I said yesterday the guys deserve a win but today Matti was just faster. He was strong on the ramp up to the line and everybody knew being first into the final corner would be key.
“They showed some great team work coming into it to set up the sprint. Swifty is a bit disappointed but we are in good spirits and tomorrow is another day. But the main thing is that our sprinters know that after a certain point we will take responsibility to make it a sprint. Then after that it’s just a matter of how it plays out.
“It was a bit hectic at the end again and there are a lot of guys here who want to be part of the sprint. We came through the day safely, we have Sergio and Rigo up there on GC and tomorrow is another day for those guys with the uphill finish.”
