Vuelta 2014: Superstrong Valverde outpowers competition

Thursday, August 28th – Stage 6 leads in 167.1 kilometres to Cumbres Verdes, making it the first mountain stage of La Vuelta 2014. The riders are to crest two categorised climbs before arriving at the bottom of the 12.1 kilometres closing clim. The final 4 kilometres are undeniably Purito terrain and yes, he attacks, but it's Alejandro Valverde who takes over for a mighty win. Froome comes in second, Contador third. Valverde is the new man in red. (Slideshow route/profile)

Vuelta 2014: Results 6th stage

1. Alejandro Valverde (spa)
2. Chris Froome (gbr) s.t.
3. Alberto Contador (spa) s.t.
4. Joaquim Rodriguez (spa) + 0.08
5. Nairo Quintana (col) + 0.12
6. Fabio Aru (ita) + 0.18
7. Esteban Chaves (spa) + 0.25
8. Daniel Navarro (spa) s.t.
9. Mikel Nieve (spa) + 0.32
10. Robert Gesink (Nld) + 0.33

11. Warren Barguil (fra) s.t.
13. Laurens ten Dam (Nld) + 0.44
14. Wilco Kelderman (Nld) s.t.
18. Daniel Martin (Irl) + 0.58
19. Rigoberto Uran (col) + 1.04
38. Cadel Evans (aus) + 2.16

GC after 6th stage
1. Alejandro Valverde (spa)
2. Nairo Quintana (col) + 0.15
3. Alberto Contador (spa) + 0.18
4. Chris Froome (gbr) + 0.22
5. Esteban Chaves (col) + 0.41
6. Joaquim Rodriguez (spa) + 0.45
7. Robert Gesink (Nld) + 0.55
8. Fabio Aru (ita) + 0.58
9. Warren Barguil (fra) + 1.02
10. Wilco Kelderman (Nld) + 1.06

14. Rigoberto Uran (col) +1.18
17. Daniel Martin (Irl) + 1.37
21. Laurens ten Dam (Nld) + 2.25
25. Cadel Evans (aus) + 2.40

Race report
With 1.6 kilometres done Pim Ligthart and Luis Más Bonet are gone. Thibaut Pinot and two companions try to bridge the gap and when they don’t succeed Peter Sagan and five others start chasing, but it’s all invain. Ligthart and Más Bonet are off. The gap balloons up to well over 14 minutes.

At the bottom of Alto de Zafarraya the gap to the two leaders is down to 11’55” and it stands at 11’00” when cresting. Más Bonet takes all mountain points, Ligthart is second and in the pack Cousin grabs the one remaining point.

Garmin is at the front of the peloton and the escapees’ gain is slowly shrinking. At the summit of the second climb, Los Bermejales, the gap is down to under 8 minutes. Again Más Bonnet takes all mountain points and he will be pleased with strengthening his lead in the mountain classification.

Approaching the closing climb to Cumbres Verdes the gain is going down fast. In the final 4 kilometres and it’s there Ligthart decides to go solo, but with 3 kilometres left he is caught by a bunch with GC-man. Valverde is powering upfront and at the back Cadel Evans, Dani Moreno and Daniel Martin are dropped. And that list is growing with the top getting closer. Uran, Kelderman, Gesink, Barguil…

At 700 metres Rodríguez jumps with Valverde reacting immediately. Froome, Contador and Quintana are slowly closing in, whilst Ary and Chves are gone. Valverde dictates the pace – again.

It’s Valverde, Contador and Froome heading for the finish line with Valverde being strongest. By winning the race he is the new overall leader. Strong racing by The Unbeaten!