Volta a Catalunya 2017: Impey wins sprint, Valverde cements overall lead

The route of the penultimate stage in the Volta a Catalunya crosses four peaks, while the finish line lies at the end of a long descent. Froome loses contact in the descent of the first climb and ends up out of GC contention. Impey wins the sprint of a decimated pack ahead of Valverde, who cements his overall lead. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 6th stage Volta a Catalunya 2017

1. Daryl Impey (rsa)
2. Alejandro Valverde (spa) s.t.
3. Arthur Vichot (fra) s.t.
4. Petr Vakoc (cze) s.t.
5. Alessandro De Marchi (ita) s.t.
6. Nick van der Lijke (nld) s.t.
7. Dario Cataldo (ita) s.t.
8. Lennard Kämna (ger) s.t.
9. Cyril Gautier (fra) s.t.
10. Daniel Martin (irl) s.t.

74. Chris Froome (gbr) + 26.38

GC after 6th stage
1. Alejandro Valverde (spa)
2. Alberto Contador (spa) + 0.53
3. Marc Soler (spa) + 1.06
4. Adam Yates (gbr) + 1.21
5. Tejay van Garderen (usa) + 1.24
6. Daniel Martin (irl) + 2.19
7. Steven Kruijswijk (nld) + 2.46
8. Carlos Verona (ita) + 2.50
9. George Bennett (nzl) + 2.51
10. Romain Bardet (fra) + 2.55

Race report
In the descent of Alto de Bot the peloton breaks. Froome winds up in the wrong group, while all other GC-riders are in the first group of some 50 riders. Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Adam Yates, Tejay van Garderen, Dan Martin et al push on to increase the lead to 5 minutes. Froome gives up and the gap balloons to tenths of minutes.

After descending the snowy Alt de la Musala the front group is heading for the line in Reus when De Marchi and Cataldo go on the attack. They force a small gap and hold on to it until the dying metres of the race. The sprinting peloton gobbles them up with 10 metres to go and Impey bests Valverde on the line. So that’s a time bonus of 6 seconds for the leader.

Read about the route of 6th stage of the Volta a Catalunya 2017.