Tour of the Basque Country 2016 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE – Individual Time Trial + Ceremony Awards]

April 09, 2016

Vuelta al País Vasco 2016 – [Stage 6] – Eibar – Eibar (ITT) – 16,5 km

Edition 56 of the Tour of the Basque Country leaves Monday, April 4, to finish on Saturday, April 9. The race is a feast for climbers and puncheurs, as the Basque Country is teeming with steep hills and mountains. The 2016 edition will start in Etxebarria, while the last stage is an individual time trial in the mountains of Eibar.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) put his rivals to the sword on the final stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco with a dominant ride in the 16.5-kilometre time trial. The Spaniard won the stage, finishing five seconds ahead of Nairo Quintana (Movistar) with Sergio Henao (Team Sky) taking third at 18 seconds.

The win was enough to see Contador win the overall having started the stage six seconds down on Henao in the overall standings.

Contador took the overall win with Henao finishing second overall at 12 seconds and with Quintana moving onto the final step of the podium in third at 37 seconds back.

The win marked Contador’s fourth overall win the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, in what is widely expected to be his final season in the professional peloton.

“It’s unbelievable. I wasn’t really sure where my form was coming into this race but it’s right where it needs to be,” Contador said at the finish.

“It’s only a handful of seconds but it’s still a very special feeling to win here and I’m really happy with my victory.”

Contador’s form continues to impress. He won a stage and finished third overall in the Volta ao Algarve, before finishing second on the Tour of Catalunya and Paris-Nice.

For Henao there was no disgrace in losing, the Colombian was simply unable to hold his slim margin over Contador.

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) was arguably the biggest loser of the day. He started the stage 10 seconds off the race lead but lost time at the first intermediate time check at 6.5km, and despite a demanding course with a large climb dominating the profile, the Frenchman was powerless to stop his main rivals. He even fell off the podium, thanks mainly to the blistering ride of Quintana, who rose from sixth to third overall. Had the Colombian not chose to change his bike from a road to a time trial machine for the latter part of the stage, he may have taken the stage.

Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) was another rider who impressed. The British climber led the stage before the main GC riders started and looked on course for an upset win until Quintana shot out from the start house.

The Colombian’s GC challenge looked over after he lost time on stage 5 but he rallied and put close to a minute into the main field by the time he reached the intermediate time check.

Only Contador, who looked the strongest he had looked all week, could better the Movistar leader as Pinot, Rodriguez and Mikel Landa all struggled with the main climb and its pitches that peaked out at 20 per cent.

There was no stopping Contador, however, who carried his momentum into the second half of the stage. Henao came back strongly on the descent and the final undulations before the line but it wasn’t enough. Contador sprinted out of the final few corners to take the win and his first stage race title since last June’s Route du Sud.

Results :

1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team 0:29:13
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:05
3 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:18
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:53
5 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:01:04
6 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:01:09
7 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:01:16
8 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha
9 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:01:21
10 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:26
11 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha 0:01:29
12 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 0:01:31
13 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
14 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:33
15 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:01:37
16 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:43
17 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:50
19 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:52
20 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
21 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:53
22 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:55
23 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:56
24 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team 0:01:58
25 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
26 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:59
27 Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:03
28 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Team Sky 0:02:11
29 Simone Petilli (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:02:13
30 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
31 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data 0:02:17
32 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
33 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida 0:02:18
34 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
35 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:02:20
36 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:30
37 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:32
38 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:02:33
39 Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:02:40
40 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:42
41 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:43
42 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:46
43 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 0:02:52
44 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha 0:02:58
45 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:03:06
46 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale Pro Cycling
47 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:09
48 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:10
49 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky 0:03:11
50 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team 0:03:13
51 Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:03:14
52 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team 0:03:16
53 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data 0:03:18
54 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:19
55 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
56 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:03:21
57 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha 0:03:23
58 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:03:25
59 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:37
60 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:03:38
61 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:03:40
62 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:42
63 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:03:46
64 Miguel Angel Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:47
65 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
66 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:03:52
67 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:03:55
68 Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team 0:03:58
69 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data 0:04:01
70 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Team 0:04:02
71 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge 0:04:06
72 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:07
73 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge
74 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
75 Carlos Verona (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:04:12
76 Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge 0:04:18
77 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:04:22
78 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:04:27
79 Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale Pro Cycling
80 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 0:04:32
81 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team 0:04:35
82 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:04:36
83 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 0:04:40
84 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:41
85 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:04:44
86 Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ 0:04:45
87 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:48
88 Domingos Gonçalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:49
89 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge 0:04:56
90 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:59
91 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:29
92 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:05:31
93 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ 0:05:42
94 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:05:44
95 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Team Katusha 0:05:47
96 Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:05:48
97 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge 0:06:26

General Classification after Stage 3 :