David Lopez (Sky) out-climbed his joint breakaway riders on the legendary Cote de la Redoute to claim a magnificent victory on stage six of the Eneco Tour today.

The 32-year-old Spaniard surged away from Angel Madrazo (Movistar) and Maciej Paterski (Cannondale) in the final 100m and then held off a group of chasers to win by two seconds.

The trio were the only surviving members of an initial 11-man escape and when they started up La Redoute, a staple of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day Classic, with only 20 seconds' advantage, it looked like they too would be caught.

Madrazo launched his bid for victory with 200m to go, but Lopez stayed in his wheel and then emerged from his slipstream to claim a memorable win.

After the stage, sports director Servais Knaven elaborated on Lopez’s victory on the Sky website, saying the win was a well-deserved reward for all the teamwork he has demonstrated throughout the season.

“It was a fantastic ride from David – a really good performance and really nice for him because he is always helping the team,” Knaven said.

“We knew they [the breakaway riders] had a good chance of staying away, but the chasers came back at them really fast in the last 10km. He showed great experience in the final kilometre, though.

“He was one of the strongest riders in the breakaway and was able to follow all the moves. He was really strong and motivated today.”