Volta a Catalunya: Chernetski wins stage 6 in Port Aventura

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Sergei Chernetski (Katusha) won stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya on the streets of Port Aventura on Saturday. The Russian rider out-sprinted Julian Alaphilippe (Eitxx-QuickStep) and Maciej Paterski (CCC Sprandi Polkowice). The trio were involved in a 21-rider breakaway that successfully made it to the finish line ahead of the main group of overall contenders.

Richie Porte (Team Sky) continues to lead the overall classification by five seconds ahead of Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) as the race heads into the finale stage 7 on Sunday. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) was involved in a crash with three kilometres to go but finished the race and he will keep his third place in the overall classification, seven seconds behind Porte.

On a lengthy, hilly run from Cervera to the Port Aventura theme park, Chernetski formed part of a 21-man breakaway away that took off almost as soon as the 194.1-kilometre stage had began. The riders in the move were Daniel Navorro and Chetout Loic (Cofidis), Fabrice Jeandesboz (Europcar), Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Georg Preidler (Giant-Alpecin), Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jonathan Hivert and Florian Vachon (Bretagne-Seche Environnement), Maciej Paterski (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Tom Danielson (Cannondale-Garmin), Carlos Verona and Julian Alaphilippe (Eitxx-QuickStep), Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ), Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida), Eduard Vorganov, Egor Silin and Sergei Chernetski (Katusha), Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Marc Soler (Movistar). With around 40 kilometres to go they still had an advantage of some four minutes on the main bunch.

Hard driving by stage 4 winner van Garderen on the third category Alt del Coll Roig, shrunk the large break to around a more manageable 15 riders. Shortly afterwards, gusty crosswinds helped produce a crash in the last part of the peloton, with four riders going down - Laurens ten Dam (LottoNL-Jumbo) apparently being the worst affected.

After another powerful drive at the front by van Garderen as the Volta approached by the Meditteranean coastline, just 13 riders remained in the leading break. Cofidis' Rudy Molard and Loic Chetout, as well as Etixx-QuickStep's Carlos Verona and - on paper - the best sprinter in the move, Julien Alaphilippe were the only teams, by that point, with more than one rider in the front group. Team Sky, meanwhile, were keeping the pace high behind, but with strong collaboration in the break, the time gap was only inching down, to around two minutes with 12 kilometres to go.

Etixx-Quick and Cofidis, logically enough, began stirring things up as the break briefly roared along a series of dual carriageways - a route reminiscent of run-ins at the Vuelta a España in the 1990s, when motorways were unfailingly chosen over more technically challenging roads - prior to the undulating final kilometre to Port Aventura.

Moves by Verona and Chetout did not work out, nor yet a determined bid for freedom by former Tour de Suisse stage winner Steven Kruiswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo). Rather than wait for a possible sprint, Alaphilippe then led the group up the gentle rise to the finishing straight, and the young Frenchman was still ahead with around 150 metres to go.

However, Chernetski’s much better timed acceleration brought him past the Etixx-QuckStep rider just before crossing the line. For once neither rider felt confident enough of the win to raise his hand, but the photofinish confirmed the Katusha Team rider had netted the biggest win of his career to date.

A professional since 2013, Chernetski’s biggest previous win has been in the Tour de Fjords in 2013, with a fifth place overall in the Tour de Beijing and seventh in the Vuelta a Burgos confirming his ability in week-long stage races. He said, though, that his triumph in Catalunya had been a surprise.

“I wanted to attack earlier because I’m not a fast finisher, but ended up waiting for the sprint,” Chernetski said later. “That was the right choice, so I’m pleased.”

Overall, there were no significant changes, although a big crash for Contador less than three kilometres from the line sent alarm bells ringing in Tinkoff-Saxo. Contador suffered road rash but was able to continue.

Contador later told Spanish website Biciclismo that he had “gone down hard," but whilst suffering road rash all down his left side, he was “relatively OK” and should be able to race on Sunday.

Although Porte continues in the lead, the Paris-Nice winner and WorldTour leader has to make it through Sunday’s short but technically challenging showdown stage through the Montjuic Park in central Barcelona. Just 126 kilometres long, and with time bonuses still in play, after the riders reach Montjuic the peloton has to tackle eight circuits of a 6.4-kilometre lap, ascending a third category climb each time.

Porte’s team looked one of the strongest on Saturday, with Chris Froome looking in much better shape and helping lead the Sky string at the front of the pack. But Montjuic - with or without the rain which somehow seems always to manage to put in an appearance on Catalunya’s final stage - always makes for a fraught final hour of racing.

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