Another „orange day” in Andalucia. Maciej Paterski was the most aggressive rider on the last stage and Grega Bole finished in the top 5 for the third time in the race.

"Despite good cooperation in the breakaway, the peloton didn’t let us create too big of an advantage," Maciej Paterski said afterwards. "When it dropped under 1 minute, I decided to attack. Only two riders stayed with me and this time we were not able to work well together. I felt that I wanted to increase the advantage more than the other escapees. I decided to launch another attack and this time I went solo. I gave everything I had. I was not aware of the gaps, I didn’t see the chasers so I didn’t know what to expect. I felt good the entire day but this time I couldn’t outsmart the bunch.  

"I think that it was a very good race for me and the team. We were active throughout the entire 5 days of racing, we were present almost in every breakaway and were twice 3rd and twice 4th. We definitely didn’t look bad compared to the best teams and riders in the world that took part in the event."

Maciej Paterski was involved in a 7-man breakaway, together with Johnny Hoogerland (Team Roompot), Rodolfo Andres Torres (Team Colombia), Victor Martin (Burgos-BH), Peio Bilbao (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), Songezo Jim and Merhawi Kudus (both MTN – Qhubeka). The maximum gap reached 3 minutes.

With 40 km to go Paterski pushed harder and only Hoogerland and Kudus managed to stay with him. The CCC Sprandi Polkowice was very eager to stretch out the lead and seemed to be the strongest in that group.

He left other escapees behind and began his solo journey towards the finish. Paterski’s impressive ride lasted until 7 kilometers to go, when he got reeled in by the bunch. Various teams were working at the head of the peloton and CCC Sprandi Polkowice was one of the squads that also set the pace.

The final kilometer saw the road go uphill and it favored powerful sprinters. Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) felt the most comfortable in such terrain and claimed the victory. John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) came in 2nd and Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) in third. Grega Bole was very close from finishing on the podium for the third time in this race and had to settle for 4th place.

Christopher Froome (Team Sky) maintained his lead in the general classification and won the race. Sylwester Szmyd, who lost a few minutes after the crash on stage 1a, finished the 5-day event in 31st, the highest among the “riders in orange”.