Daryl Impey victorious in Volta a Catalunya, game over for Chris Froome
Mar 25 2017 11:55 pm CET
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSDaryl Impey of Orica-Scott has won the sixth stage of the Volta a Catalunya. Chris Froome of Team Sky is no longer in contention for the podium.
The penultimate stage of the Spanish WorldTour race led the remaining riders from Tortosa to Reus with a total distance of 189.7 kilometers. The route included a 1st-category climb at 35 kilometers from the finish.
But the first carnage took place much earlier on the day as the technical descent of the Alt de Bot after just 29 kilometers caused a split in the peloton. Chris Froome and most of his teammates ended up in the wrong group while race leader Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador did manage to stay on the right side of the cut.
The Froome group soon lost terrain and realized that it was impossible to catch up with those in front. At 50 kilometers from the finish, the gap between the two groups had grown to a staggering 15 minutes.
Contador had to act alone as his principal teammates Jarlinson Pantano and Bauke Mollema had also ended up in the rear group, tried a first attack at 41 kilometers from the arrival but the terrain was not steep enough for the Trek-Segafredo rider to make a difference.
Astana's Dario Cataldo and BMC Racing Team's Alessandro De Marchi attacked at around ten kilometers from the finish line, following the snowy descent of the Alt de la Musara. The two Italians quickly created a small gap.
The chase group tried to close the gap but initially lacked the organization to do so. The leaders had a maximum advantage of about 12 seconds but quickly lost terrain in the final kilometer.
The pursuers eventually caught the Italian duo in the last meters, after which Orica-Scott's Daryl Impey won the sprint ahead of Movistar's Valverde and FDJ's Arthur Vichot.
As a result of this stage, Contador moves into second place in the general classification at 53 seconds from Valverde. The latter's teammate Marc Soler now follows in third place.
