Sept 1 (Reuters) - Bastien ⁠Tronchon of Groupama-FDJ United snatched victory in ⁠a photo finish on stage 10 of the ‌Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday following a 184.7 km hilly ride through southern Spain.

The pace quickened a kilometre before ​the finish line as Astana's Yevgeni ⁠Fedorov broke clear ⁠alongside Xabier Azparren of Q36.5, building a brief lead ⁠over ‌the peloton before being caught just before the finish line and allowing Frenchman ⁠Tronchon to secure a surprise victory in ​the final sprint.

Denmark's ‌Magnus Cort of Uno-X Mobility took second ⁠place and ​Belgian Thibau Nys of Lidl-Trek finished third.

The victory marked the 24-year-old’s first Grand Tour stage win and ⁠the third of his career.

"I launched ​my sprint and finished on the line – I wasn’t sure if there were some guys in front. ⁠I didn’t put my hands in the air," Tronchon said. "My preparation this year wasn’t very good so I didn’t expect this. I just had ​to trust the process, to ⁠race and go for it."

Spain's Enric Mas of Movistar ​retained the overall leader's red ‌jersey, finishing safely in 36th ​place in the main peloton.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)