The 172 kilometer long sixth and penultimate stage of Volta a Catalunya from El Vendrell to Vilanova i La Geltru was another fantastic scenery unfolding in hilly terrain in the Catalan countryside. With 4 four seconds away from the overall lead, Tinkoff-Saxo Spaniard was naturally keen on finding the keyhole to bridge that time gap.

The fairly easy stage in terms of terrain was however hardened by severe crosswind sections. Nine riders including German veteran, Jens Voigt (Trek Racing) and Pierre Rolland (Europcar) jumped up the road to form the breakaway of the day and they made it very hard for the peloton to bridge the gap. Because of the late initiative from the sprinter teams, the chase was insanely high and attack from the field was absolutely hopeless.

Entering the final ten kilometers, 42-year-old Voigt launched a wild attack from the front group but no ones leaves Voigt out of sight and the gap was shut show immediately. And from then on, it was attack upon attack and eventually the king of the mountains, Stef Clement (Belkin) made the crucial gap and soloed his way to the finish line to win the stage.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador is still second overall and will keep fighting to step up to the top spot of the podium:

“Well, today’s stage was rather windy and with a loop around the finish town, we had both headwind, crosswind and tailwind. As the stage progressed, the chance of splitting the field with an attack disappeared and our focus was to protect Alberto and bring him safely across the finish line. Tomorrow’s finale looks pretty hard and surely, there will be an opportunity or two for Alberto to make a move to gain the four seconds he needs,” says DS, Philippe Mauduit.

Alberto Contador says:

“Purito knows tomorrow’s circuit very well and we have to pay attention to the weather conditions as rain and wind can make the race very difficult. As said before, the race isn’t over until the final finish line is crossed but gaining 4 seconds can still be hard to achieve against a rider like Purito,” Alberto concludes.