Jempy Drucker sprinted to sixth place for the BMC Racing Team Thursday at the Vuelta a España as the last riders from the day's breakaway were only caught in the final few hundred meters.

Racing on his birthday for the first time since turning professional in 2011, Drucker and the charging peloton weaved their way through five riders from a breakaway who threatened to win the 173-kilometer race.

"I was good until maybe 300 or 400 meters to go," Drucker said. "Then they (the peloton) stopped again a bit and then started from the left side. So I got a bit too far behind. I tried to move up but there were some guys who had stopped pedaling, so I had to go around them. I did my best, but it was not enough for the win.

"Of course I would have loved to celebrate my birthday. But it didn't work out. That's the race. The sprint was a little bit tricky. It started slowing down again. I was well positioned but suddenly a wave came back on me like three days ago. It's a pity.

"The team worked well, that's fine. When you don't win, there's always a possibility to do better. You have to live with it. I hope I can go all the way to Madrid to do the sprint there."

Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) took the victory ahead of Daryl Impey (ORICA-GreenEDGE) and Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto-Soudal). Drucker's top 10 placing was his third at the Vuelta following a pair of fourth-place finishes on Stages 3 and 5.

"We were all for Jempy today," BMC Racing Team Sport Director Yvon Ledanois said. "I asked Amaël Moinard and Peter Velits to help with the chase in the last eight kilometers. Then we tried to help Jempy and he did a good sprint. But the riders who were in front of him were stronger today."

The overall standings did not change. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) leads Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha) by 27 seconds. Samuel Sánchez is best-placed for the BMC Racing Team in 18th.