The 194-kilometer stage six was a day for a possible sprint finish, but when a 21-man breakaway forged off the front with plenty of strong firepower in the mix and no threat to the top of GC it quickly turned into a day where the escape could – and did - survive to the end.

The last climbs pared the breakaway group to 13 and in the end it was Katusha’s Sergei Chernetski who bettered his compatriots to take the victory. The overall classification remained unchanged.

“Hot, windy, stressful, climbing, suffering - roll all those words into one for today,” said Calvin Watson about Saturday’s stage six to TFR.com. “It was just a matter of surviving today and that last climb with around 15k to go was pretty tough. I just made my way to the finish after that.”

Riccardo Zoidl, Haimar Zubeldia and Fabio Silvestre all rolled in with the main peloton containing the GC favorites (+1’50”).

Jasper Stuyven was a non-start today and he will depart Spain to rest up for upcoming Classics. It ‘s a big opportunity for the young Belgian and Classics specialist in the absence of Fabian Cancellara, and he will certainly be one to keep an eye on in the upcoming Monuments.