Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2017 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

March 25, 2017
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2017 – Stage 6 – Tortosa – Reus – 189,7 km

The 2017 Volta a Catalunya is a road cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place between 20 and 26 March. It will be the 97th edition of the Volta a Catalunya and will be the ninth event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.

Daryl Impey (Orica-Scott) claimed a dramatic win on stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya, out-sprinting Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) from a reduced peloton.

The stage was marked by a series of early attacks with Chris Froome (Team Sky) missing a key split and losing over twenty minutes and his spot on the podium. In the closing stages Dario Cataldo (Astana) and Alessandro De Marchi (BMC Racing) attacked and looked set to contest the stage win. However, with the line in sight, the pair were overhauled by the remnants of the bunch with Impey out-powering Valverde in a close sprint. French national road champion Arthur Vichot (FDJ) finished third.

The shift in the overall saw Valverde cement is leader with Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) moving into second overall, 53 seconds down with on stage to go. Marc Soler (Movistar) moved into third overall after Froome’s capitulation.

How it unfolded

After the fireworks on stage 5, the final stage in the mountains was set to decide the overall for this year’s Volta a Catalunya. With Valverde in imperious form having picked up two stage wins already, the onus was on the likes of Contador and Froome to attack the race leader.

When the attacks did come, early on in the 189km stage, they came from Movistar and Trek-Segafredo. While the majority of the top ten were present in the surprise early move, Froome was the notable exception. Team Sky, in fact, failed to position a single rider in the lead group of 50, and as the gap began to creep up, shades of last year’s Vuelta stage in which Froome was ambushed quickly became apparent.

Team Sky attempted to lead a chase at first, and held the front group at around a minute for the middle section of the stage, but as the kilometres ticked by and the leaders ticked off the opening climbs, the gap slowly moved out to two minutes. That effectively ended Froome’s hopes of a podium place in his first European outing of the season as more and more teams joined the Movistar/Trek alliance.

With so many teams and riders willing to work, the gap ballooned to over six minutes before the penultimate climb.

After such a blistering start the front group eased back, with Movistar, LottoNl, and Quick-Step joining forces at the front.

The final, long climb before the descent into Reus offered the climbers their last chance to affect the GC but only Alberto Contador attempted to ruin Movistar’s party.

The Spaniard’s acceleration only caused a slight ripple of panic in the bunch, with Movistar quick to reel in their closest rival. In truth, the gradient – or lack of it – only hampered the opportunity to go clear and as the bunch crested the top of the climb, a reduced bunch sprint looked to be on the cards.

However this race has been anything but predictable and when Cataldo and De Marchi broke clear it looked as though the Italian pair would decide the stage. They had 12 seconds on the chase as they came into the final 1,000 metres but a combination of Movistar and Orica-Scott saw that lead evaporate, and with the line in sight Impey tore by the fading pair to snatch victory ahead of Valverde and Vichot.

By the time the South African had finished with his podium duties, the group containing Froome still had several kilometres to complete. The three-time Tour de France winner eventually made it home, conceding over 26 minutes.

Results :
1 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott 4:34:14
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ
4 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
5 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
6 Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
7 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
8 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
9 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
11 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
12 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
13 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
15 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
16 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
17 Jordi Simon (Spa) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
18 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
19 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
20 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
21 Jose Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
22 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
23 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac
24 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
25 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
26 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
27 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
28 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Manzana Postobon
29 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Team UAE Emirates
30 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
31 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
32 Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott
33 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
34 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:15
35 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:29
36 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:56
37 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:06:30
38 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
39 Aldemar Reyes (Col) Manzana Postobon
40 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
41 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
42 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
43 Felix Großschartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
44 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
45 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:12:02
46 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
47 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
48 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:14:37
49 Stef Clement (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:17:30
50 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:18:47
51 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:20:18
52 Valerio Conti (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
53 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:21:04
54 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
55 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:23:06
56 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
57 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
58 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:26:38
59 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
60 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
61 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
62 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
63 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
64 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida
66 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
67 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal
68 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
69 David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ
70 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
71 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
72 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
73 Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ
74 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
75 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
76 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
77 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
78 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
79 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
80 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
81 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal
82 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
83 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
84 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
85 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
86 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
87 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
88 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
89 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
90 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Sunweb
91 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
92 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
93 Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
94 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
95 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Emirates
96 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
97 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
98 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Team UAE Emirates
99 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team UAE Emirates
100 Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ
101 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
102 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe
103 Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon
104 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
105 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
106 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-Scott
107 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott
108 Hernando Bohorquez (Col) Manzana Postobon
109 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
111 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
112 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin
113 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
114 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky
OTL Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
OTL Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
OTL Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
OTL Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
OTL François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
OTL Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
OTL Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
OTL Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
OTL Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
OTL Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
OTL Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
OTL Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
OTL Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
OTL Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
OTL Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
OTL José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
OTL Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
OTL Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
OTL Juan Felipe Osorio (Col) Manzana Postobon
OTL Hernan Aguirre (Col) Manzana Postobon
OTL Patryk Stosz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
OTL Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
OTL Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
OTL Piotr Brozyna (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
OTL Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
OTL Tim Ariesen (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
OTL Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
OTL Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-Scott
OTL Luis Mas (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
OTL Brendan Canty (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
OTL Martijn Keizer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
OTL Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
OTL Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
OTL Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
OTL Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
OTL Hector Saez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
OTL Etienne Van Empel (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
OTL Diego Rubio (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
OTL Annas Ait el Abdia (Mor) Team UAE Emirates
OTL Murilo Affonso (Bra) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
OTL Caio Godoy (Bra) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
OTL Mateusz Taciak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
OTL Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
OTL Magno Prado Nazaret (Bra) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
OTL Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
OTL Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
OTL Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
DNF Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
DNF Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Davide Cimolai (Ita) FDJ
DNF Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNS Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits

General classification after stage 6 :
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 22:18:35
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:53
3 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:06
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:01:21
5 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:24
6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:19
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:46
8 Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott 0:02:50
9 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:51
10 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:55
11 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:23
12 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:04:05
13 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:05:04
14 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Team UAE Emirates 0:05:13
15 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:53
16 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:07:31
17 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac 0:08:07
18 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:12:35
19 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
20 Felix Großschartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:13:13
21 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:13:35
22 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:13:57
23 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:15:06
24 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:19:55
25 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:23:44
26 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:23:45
27 Aldemar Reyes (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:24:06
28 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Manzana Postobon 0:25:02
29 Jose Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:25:03
30 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:26:49
31 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:27:05
32 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:28:18
33 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:28:43
34 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:29:27
35 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:30:00
36 Jordi Simon (Spa) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team 0:30:03
37 David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ 0:30:23
38 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:31:43
39 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team UAE Emirates 0:32:22
40 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida 0:33:12
41 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac 0:33:26
42 Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:34:31
43 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:35:29
44 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data 0:35:36
45 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott 0:35:46
46 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:36:05
47 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ 0:36:18
48 Stef Clement (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:36:26
49 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:36:51
50 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:37:06
51 Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ 0:37:12
52 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Sunweb 0:37:23
53 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:37:32
54 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
55 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:37:38
56 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:38:06
57 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:38:19
58 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:38:37
59 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal 0:38:51
60 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:40:29
61 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:41:54
62 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:42:22
63 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:43:21
64 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:46:34
65 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:46:54
66 Valerio Conti (Ita) Team UAE Emirates 0:48:07
67 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ 0:48:49
68 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:49:18
69 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:49:21
70 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:50:19
71 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:50:29
72 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:50:30
73 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:50:52
74 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:51:07
75 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac 0:51:12
76 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:51:18
77 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:52:05
78 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:52:09
79 Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ 0:53:37
80 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:54:45
81 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:55:14
82 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:55:55
83 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:58:18
84 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:58:40
85 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:59:15
86 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin 1:00:45
87 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 1:01:44
88 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 1:01:47
89 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1:01:49
90 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 1:02:10
91 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 1:02:25
92 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Team UAE Emirates 1:02:36
93 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 1:02:44
94 Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon 1:04:30
95 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin 1:04:50
96 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:06:32
97 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:06:58
98 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky 1:07:28
99 Hernando Bohorquez (Col) Manzana Postobon 1:07:51
100 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott 1:08:40
101 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 1:08:53
102 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:10:01
103 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Emirates 1:11:20
104 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin 1:13:21
105 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 1:13:30
106 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 1:13:55
107 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1:13:56
108 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:15:00
109 Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Emirates 1:15:59
110 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 1:16:56
111 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 1:18:06
112 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:18:34
113 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-Scott 1:19:22
114 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 1:21:08