Valverde wins stage 6 of the Vuelta a Espana
Spaniard climbs to overall lead
Alejandro Valverde moved back into pole position at the Vuelta a Espana when he won the first summit finish of the race at La Zubia. Valverde had enough finishing punch to edge out Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) at the end of a thrilling stage contested fiercely by all of the race's biggest names. The victory put him back into the leader's red jersey which he had ceded to Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) in Arcos de la Frontera three days ago.
For much of the day, it seemed that the two-man break featuring Lotto-Belisol's Pim Ligthart and Caja Rural's mountains leader Luis Mas Bonet might go all the way, but the pair were reeled on the brutal final ascent 3km away from glory. Apparently playing the role of back-up man, Valverde took on the pace-making for teammate Nairo Quintana with 2km left, the pair briefly discussing their tactics as their main GC rivals sat in behind them.
Katusha's Joaquim Rodríguez had been talked up as the favourite for the stage, so it was little surprise when he attacked with 700 metres left. For a few moments, it appeared that the little Spanish climber would stay clear of the select group behind, but Froome and Valverde both responded to the attack. More surprising was the performance of Contador, who has played down his GC hopes, but was right on their wheels.
When Valverde surged inside the final 200 metres, Froome and Contador responded well but were unable to match the Movistar rider's powerful acceleration. Both, though, finished in the same time as Valverde, who now leads Quintana by 15 seconds, Contador by 18 and Froome by 22.
"It was a good and hard-earned victory," Valverde told RTVE. "It was a difficult finish, but I felt like I had good legs, I felt really good. I know this area really well. I just set a good rhythm from the bottom and Nairo told me that I should just keep going, but I kept a little bit back. When Purito attacked I went after him, and then went for the line."
Valverde revealed he doesn't know whether he'll be able to maintain his form through to the end of the race and challenge for the title, but expects Quintana to feature strongly on the mountain stages ahead. As for Contador, he said, "I'm not surprised by his performance. I knew that he was in good shape. He's perhaps not 100%, but he is here to win the Vuelta."
Contador's Tinkoff-Saxo DS Steven de Jongh said that today's goal "was to put Alberto in a good position entering the foot of the climb and the boys did a very good job guiding him in the finale. From there, we didn't really know what to expect after his crash during the Tour and the break from racing so I guess he took us all by surprise today and naturally I'm more than happy with this result. However, we still have to go easy, take the race stage by stage and see how things are going."
How it unfolded
The action was frenetic right from the start. Lotto-Belisol's Pim Ligthart and Caja Rural's mountains leader Luis Mas Bonet accelerated away in the first kilometre. For the next few kilometres, several groups attempted to bridge across to them, but all were chased down by the peloton, leaving just the two riders to make the long bid for glory.
Their advantage edged up initially, reaching four minutes after 22km. Then, as the peloton eased off, it ballooned to more than 14 minutes after 45km. As Ligthart and Mas Bonet started up the first categorised climb, the Alto de Zafarraya, Garmin moved to the front of the bunch and their pace-making began to reduce the gap to the leading pair.
When Mas Bonet took maximum points and extended his lead in the mountains classification on the summit of the Zafarraya, the two escapees were less than 10 minutes ahead. Mas Bonet also took maximum points on the Alto de los Bermejales, where he and Ligthart still led by almost nine minutes with 55km remaining.
Garmin had been doing most of the chasing, but going into the final 40km of the stage, with Ligthart and Mas Bonet still seven-and-a-half minutes clear, the rest of the peloton woke up. Katusha and Movistar put riders on the front to aid the pursuit, which quickly became very heated.
The two-man break still held a handy lead of five minutes with 24km to the line, but their advantage began to tumble until it was less than 30 seconds going onto the final 4km climb. Ligthart attempted one final effort but, with 3km to go, Cofidis's Christophe Le Mével swept past him with the peloton right on his heels.
Katusha, Movistar, Garmin, Tinkoff and Sky were all to the fore, their mutual surveillance giving Cannondale's George Bennett the opportunity to steal away for what was a very brief foray. Then Valverde took control and, despite Rodríguez's attempt to wrest it from him, maintained it all the way to the line.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | 4:35:27 |
2 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha | 0:00:08 |
5 | Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team | 0:00:12 |
6 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:18 |
7 | Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica Greenedge | 0:00:25 |
8 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Team Sky | 0:00:32 |
10 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:33 |
11 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) MTN - Qhubeka | 0:00:40 |
13 | Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:44 |
14 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:47 |
16 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale | 0:00:56 |
17 | Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:59 |
18 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:01:04 |
20 | Adam Yates (GBr) Orica Greenedge | 0:01:07 |
21 | Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:01:15 |
23 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:01:19 |
24 | Dominik Nerz (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 0:01:23 |
25 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha | 0:01:25 |
26 | Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:01:31 |
27 | André Cardoso (Por) Garmin Sharp | 0:01:39 |
28 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 0:01:43 |
29 | George Bennett (NZl) Cannondale | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:01:48 |
31 | Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 0:01:53 |
33 | Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida | 0:01:54 |
34 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:01:57 |
35 | Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:02:12 |
36 | Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Trek Factory Racing | 0:02:16 |
37 | Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha | 0:02:20 |
40 | Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:02:23 |
41 | Wout Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:02:30 |
42 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:03:10 |
43 | Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:13 |
44 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin Sharp | 0:03:44 |
45 | José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:03:55 |
46 | Stef Clement (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:04:17 |
47 | Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:04:29 |
49 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol | 0:04:47 |
50 | Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin Sharp | 0:04:52 |
52 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:05:04 |
53 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:05:12 |
56 | Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team | 0:05:30 |
57 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:05:49 |
58 | Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:06:02 |
59 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:06:41 |
62 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:06:53 |
64 | Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:06:57 |
66 | Martijn Keizer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:07:06 |
67 | Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:07:38 |
74 | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Belisol | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:07:55 |
76 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol | 0:07:59 |
78 | Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Belisol | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team | 0:08:10 |
80 | Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
81 | Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 0:08:47 |
82 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
84 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
85 | Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing Team | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
86 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:08:50 |
87 | Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky | 0:08:53 |
88 | Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin Sharp | 0:09:09 |
89 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing | 0:09:15 |
90 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:09:46 |
91 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:10:02 |
92 | Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica Greenedge | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
93 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
94 | Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
95 | Karol Domagalski (Pol) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
96 | Amets Txurruka (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
97 | Maxime Mederel (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 96 - Cell 2 |
98 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:10:37 |
99 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
100 | Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:10:39 |
101 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky | Row 100 - Cell 2 |
102 | Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) IAM Cycling | 0:10:56 |
103 | Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
104 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing | Row 103 - Cell 2 |
105 | Jesse Sergent (NZl) Trek Factory Racing | Row 104 - Cell 2 |
106 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
107 | Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
108 | Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica Greenedge | Row 107 - Cell 2 |
109 | Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol | Row 108 - Cell 2 |
110 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica Greenedge | Row 109 - Cell 2 |
111 | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM Cycling | Row 110 - Cell 2 |
112 | Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka | Row 111 - Cell 2 |
113 | Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr | Row 112 - Cell 2 |
114 | Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Trek Factory Racing | Row 113 - Cell 2 |
115 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 114 - Cell 2 |
116 | Johann Tschopp (Swi) IAM Cycling | Row 115 - Cell 2 |
117 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | 0:11:23 |
118 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:11:25 |
119 | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 118 - Cell 2 |
120 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale | Row 119 - Cell 2 |
121 | Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team | 0:11:28 |
122 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica Greenedge | Row 121 - Cell 2 |
123 | Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team | Row 122 - Cell 2 |
124 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 123 - Cell 2 |
125 | Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 124 - Cell 2 |
126 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 125 - Cell 2 |
127 | Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale | Row 126 - Cell 2 |
128 | Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | 0:11:33 |
129 | Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling | 0:11:37 |
130 | Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ.fr | Row 129 - Cell 2 |
131 | Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:11:42 |
132 | Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky | 0:11:47 |
133 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale | 0:11:52 |
134 | Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:11:59 |
135 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 134 - Cell 2 |
136 | Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo | Row 135 - Cell 2 |
137 | Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale | Row 136 - Cell 2 |
138 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 137 - Cell 2 |
139 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale | Row 138 - Cell 2 |
140 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:12:27 |
141 | Robert Wagner (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | Row 140 - Cell 2 |
142 | Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 141 - Cell 2 |
143 | Lawson Craddock (USA) Team Giant-Shimano | Row 142 - Cell 2 |
144 | Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 143 - Cell 2 |
145 | Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:12:32 |
146 | Vegard Breen (Nor) Lotto Belisol | Row 145 - Cell 2 |
147 | Julian David Arredondo Moreno (Col) Trek Factory Racing | Row 146 - Cell 2 |
148 | Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cannondale | 0:12:44 |
149 | Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:12:59 |
150 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica Greenedge | 0:13:08 |
151 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin Sharp | 0:13:11 |
152 | Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:13:25 |
153 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Cannondale | Row 152 - Cell 2 |
154 | Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:13:30 |
155 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | 0:13:34 |
156 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | 0:13:45 |
157 | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol | Row 156 - Cell 2 |
158 | Laurent Mangel (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:13:53 |
159 | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN - Qhubeka | 0:14:18 |
160 | Jaco Venter (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | Row 159 - Cell 2 |
161 | Peio Bilbao (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 160 - Cell 2 |
162 | Natnael Berhane (Eri) Team Europcar | Row 161 - Cell 2 |
163 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Team Sky | Row 162 - Cell 2 |
164 | Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | Row 163 - Cell 2 |
165 | Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica Greenedge | 0:14:26 |
166 | Yannick Martinez (Fra) Team Europcar | Row 165 - Cell 2 |
167 | Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 166 - Cell 2 |
168 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica Greenedge | Row 167 - Cell 2 |
169 | Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 168 - Cell 2 |
170 | Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr | Row 169 - Cell 2 |
171 | Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | Row 170 - Cell 2 |
172 | Daniel Craven (Nam) Team Europcar | Row 171 - Cell 2 |
173 | Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:14:53 |
174 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN - Qhubeka | 0:15:06 |
175 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:15:11 |
176 | David Millar (GBr) Garmin Sharp | 0:15:24 |
177 | Nathan Brown (USA) Garmin Sharp | 0:15:30 |
178 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida | Row 177 - Cell 2 |
179 | Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:15:33 |
180 | Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:15:44 |
181 | Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:15:59 |
182 | Pirmin Lang (Swi) IAM Cycling |