Hamilton on podium at stage nine of La Vuelta a Espana

Hamilton was third, a minute and 12 seconds behind German Lennard Kamna in first.

It is his second third-place finish at the Grand Tour of Spain after finishing on the same step of the podium in stage 15 of the 2021 edition.

Read more: Bendigo cyclist Chris Hamilton notches up first Grand Tour win

"I think I'm pretty happy with third," Hamilton said.

"Obviously, the win would have been nice, but I'm happy with the result.

"There are still another two weeks of racing to go, so we'll try it again."

Hamilton was the first to attack at the base of the final climb, the Collado de la Cruz and drew a group of four clear, but Kamna, who has now won stages at all three Grand Tours, launched the decisive blow with only Italian Matteo Sobrero able to hold the wheel momentarily.

With the earlier attack depleting his reserves, Hamilton had the extra misfortune of a puncher on the muddy roads and, without a change of bike available, had to ride to finish with one working wheel.

Earlier, Hamilton fought through the crosswinds that threatened to blow open the general classification to bridge across to the breakaway.

As the winds subsided, the chase from the peloton decreased in intensity, allowing the breakaway to grow their lead to around eight minutes at one stage.

"I was happy to make it into the break after a pretty crazy start, and the eight of us worked well together," Hamilton said.

The result continues a great La Vuelta for the Bendigo boy after his Team DSM won the opening stage team time trial.

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