Five Team Sky riders finished in the front group on the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España.
Farrar triumphs while Gilbert stays in red
Team Sky's seven-strong squad lived to fight another day after the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España, with five riders making it home in the front group after Garmin's Tyler Farrar had outsprinted Koldo Fernández (Euskaltel) and Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) for victory in Lorca.
Although the bug that had swept through the team earlier in the week was still affecting performances, the relatively straightforward 198.8km trek from Guadix proved a timely one in aiding the riders' recovery and only Kjell Carlström and Peter Kennaugh failed to post the same time as the triumphant Farrar.
Ian Stannard led the team home in 21st position, with Juan Antonio Flecha (44th), Thomas Löfkvist (75th), Simon Gerrans (96th) and Lars Petter Nordhaug also in the first pack of 157 riders.
Carlström and Kennaugh meanwhile, crossed the line three minutes and 35 seconds adrift in 183rd and 184th positions respectively.
The bunch finish also ensured there was no change in the general classification, so Philippe Gilbert maintained his 10-second advantage over Igor Antón (Euskaltel) and Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) in the battle for the red jersey.
The day had began in sombre mood with a minute's silence being observed for the late Laurent Fignon, but when the action did get under way Pierre Rolland (Bbox-Bouygues), David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (Footon), José Vicente Toribio (Andalucía) and Arnaud Labbe (Cofidis) wasted no time in wriggling themselves free of their rivals.
That quartet's lead stretched to over six minutes as they swept east from Granada into Almería, but it was around that point Gilbert's Omega Pharma - Lotto team decided enough was enough and began the gradual task of reeling them back in.
That feat was eventually achieved with 13.7km remaining, and as the riders continued into the destination town, HTC-Columbia and Lampre were prominent at the head of the peloton.
Both their lead-out trains would burn out prematurely however, and as Cavendish floundered after his early solo kick, it was Farrar who jumped ahead in the final 100m before holding off a determined late burst from the plucky Fernández.
Good day
After the stage, sports director Marcus Ljungqvist was delighted everyone had made it through in one piece, and hinted there could finally be some light at the end of the tunnel as the team slowely returns to fitness.
He told us: "Today was a good day because it allowed us to get on top of things a bit. We obviously weren't in the break, and we didn't have to work to bring it back either, so we could concentrate on making sure most of our guys didn't lose any more time in the GC.
"It was one of those days where we would have loved to have had John-Lee [Augustyn] and Ben [Swift] back here with us, but those guys that are still competing are starting to show early signs of recovery now and in a few more days we'll hopefully have the real Team Sky back in action again.
"Tomorrow is a slightly tougher stage with a tricky category-2 climb coming towards the end of it. In terms of tactics, we'll see how everyone is feeling whilst they are out there on the road, but I think it's going to be another day which will be used to get back into the swing of things and then we'll hopefully become more competitive as the week draws on."
