Impey wins Volta a Catalunya stage 6

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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.

"It was an interesting day today with the splits," Impey said after his win.

"We had quite a few guys in the front and in the end it was such a reduced front group. I was just happy to have the legs for the sprint because I rode quite hard early on. We moved Adam Yates up overall so to get the win on top of that is fantastic. Going into today's stage I didn't think I would have a good chance but the team rode so well."

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.

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