Maxime Daniel (Sojasun) took his first big in today sixth stage of the Volta a Portugal as the young French sprinter held off Andrea Pichele (Ceramica Flaminia), Fabio Silvestre (Leopard Trek) and Manuel Cardoso (Caja Rural) in the final bunch kick. Having benefited from a strong lead-out from veteran Jimmy Engoulvent, he produced a powerful sprint to open up his professional account while Sergio Pardilla (MTN-Qhubeka) defended the leader's jersey on the eve of the first of two big mountain stages.

Maxime Daniel was hugely disappointed when a gutsy move by Alexander Serov (Rusvelo) denied him the win on the final stage of the Volta a Portugal when the young Frenchman had actually won the bunch kick. Today he made up for that loss by powering clear to take the win in the penultimate chance for the sprinters in this year's Portuguese Tour.

At one point, it did, however, appear as though it would all come to nothing for the sprinters as the final two escapees Jean-Lou Paiani (Sojasun) and Pavel Kochetkov (Rusvelo) did an outstanding job to keep the peloton at bay. Unfortunately, they took a wrong turn on the finishing circuit and that mistake cost them some seconds that could have made the difference in the end.

Instead, it was veteran Jimmy Engoulvent who proved why he has long been seen as one of the best lead-out men in the peloton, delivering his young sprinter perfectly to the line. He edged out a fast-finishing Andrea Piechele while home riders Fabio Silvestre and Manuel Cardoso had to settle for third and fourth respectively.

Overall leader, Sergio Pardilla got safely through a rather easy day in the saddle and remains in the leader's jersey, equal on time with pre-race favourite Rui Sousa (Efapel). Those two riders are expected to go up against each other in tomorrow's seventh stage which is the first of two consecutive days in the mountains. Two big climbs will challenge the riders in the final part of the stage before a fast downhill run towards the finish line.

One for the sprinters

The 180km sixth stage only had one categorized climb in the early part and despite some rolling terrain, it was expected to be the final opportunity for the sprinters before the final stage on Sunday. Hence, few believed that a breakaway would have many chances to stay away. Nonetheless, the start was extremely fast with numerous attacks going off the front in the early part of the race.

After 14km of racing, 5 riders got clear as Andre Mourato (LA Aluminios), Carlos Oyarzun (Louletano), Jean-Lou Paiani (Sojasun), Pavel Kochetkov (Rusvelo) and Amaro Antunes (Ceramica Flaminia) started to build up a gap. Oyarzun led the group over the top of the day's climb at the 21km mark and at that point the advantage was already 4.35.

MTN-Qhubeka an Caja Rural start to chase

15km further up the road, the gap has reached 6.43 and that was when MTN-Qhubeka and Caja Rural started to chase. The former wanted to protect Pardilla's overall lead but also had Gerald Ciolek for the sprint while the latter intended to set up stage 5 winner Manuel Cardoso for another triumph.

For a long time, those two teams stabilized the gap at around 6 minutes while up ahead Mourato lost contact with his fellow escapees with 74km to go. The young Portuguese quickly gave up and fell back to the peloton which was still 5.09 behind with 49km to go.

The breakaway splits up

Caja Rural and MTN-Qhubeka had now significantly upped the pace. With 29km to go, the gap had come down to 3.02 and this prompted Antunes to attack on a small climb.

That was a bad idea as Kochetkov countered the move and only Paiani was able to respond. Oyarzun quickly fell back into the peloton while Antunes tried to get back on for some time before ultimately giving up.

Caja Rural left to do all the work

As Ciolek had drifted towards the back of the bunch, MTN had now stopped chasing and left all the work to Caja Rural which only got a n almost unnoticeable assistance from a Banco BIC rider. With 18km to go, Kochetkov tried to attack his companion but had no success in his attempt.

As they crossed the finish line to start the final lap on the 14km finishing circuit, the escapees were still 1.30 ahead and Caja Rural were by now running out of manpower. They were, however, assisted by a mistake by the escapees who briefly went off the course, losing a few seconds as a consequence.

More teams decide to help

With a sprint finish now hanging in the balance, Leopard-Trek, Bretagne, IAM and Ceramica Flaminia had now also started to chase, trying to set up a win for Silvestre, Armindo Fonseca, Sebastien Hinault and Piechele respectively. The resulting increase in the pace brought the gap down to just 19 seconds with 5km to go.

Kochetkov once again tried an attack but Paiani made it back on after a 1km chase. A few moments later, both were, however, brought back by the peloton. That was when Engoulvent accelerated with Daniel in his wheel, the youngster ultimately taking his win professional win.

Result:

1. Maxime Daniel 4.34.36

2. Andrea Piechele

3. Fabio Silvestre

4. Manuel Cardoso

5. Eugenio Alafaci

6. Jacobe Keough

7. Delio Fernandez

8. Armindo Fonseca

9. Edgar Pinto

10. Sebastien Hinault

General classification

1. Sergio Pardilla 29.22.16

2. Rui Sousa

3. Gustavo Cesar Veloso +0.07

4. Hernani Broco +0.17

5. Vladislav Gorbunov +0.20

6. Alejandro Marque +0.24

7. Delio Fernandez +0.30

8. Cesar Fonte +0.39

9. Daniel Silva +0.46

10. Edgar Pinto +0.47