Stef Clement won stage 6 of the 2014 Volta a Catalunya today, after riding clear of his breakaway companions to seize the victory in Vilanova i la Geltru – after 172 kilometers of racing.
The nine-man breakaway group succeeded in holding off the peloton during today’s hilly stage, thanks to their concerted effort right down to the finish.
As the race headed into the final 2 kilometers, a flurry of attacks occurred within the ranks of nine-man group, with Clement executing a well–timed timed attack that subsequently gave the Dutch rider a slight gap over the remaining escapees. From there, Clement was successful in keeping the chase at bay – all the way to the finish.
Rudy Molard finished a close second, while Pieter Serry placed third – followed by Jens Voigt in fourth. In the meantime, Joaquim Rodriguez, along with all of the other top GC contenders finished safely in the peloton – 54 seconds behind Clement.
Rodriguez leads Alberto Contador by four seconds, with American Tejay van Garderen in third at seven seconds back. Nairo Quintana remains in fifth place at 10 seconds back, while Chris Froome holds onto the sixth spot at 17 seconds behind.
Tomorrow’s 120 kilometer stage features a ten-second time bonus that’s up for grabs to the winner, so this year’s Volta is still wide open.
Top 10 Finishers
1Stef Clement (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 3:58:44 2 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:03 3 Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team 4 Jens Voigt (Ger) Trek Factory Racing 5 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 6 Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 7 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 8 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 9 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:00:09 10 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:00:55
General classification after stage 6
1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha 2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:04 3 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:07 4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:10 5 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 6 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:17 7 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin Sharp 0:00:18 8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:26 9 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano 0:00:42 10 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:48
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