You just can not afford to take your eye off this race. Stage six started with an ambush à la Formigal and ended with a brave  breakaway duo chased down in final metres. Oh the DRAMA!

Stage 6: Tortosa to Reus, 189.7km

Orica Scott’s Daryl Impey took the bunch sprint just pipping Alejandro Valverde (MOV) and Arthur Vichot (FDJ). But ONLY after Italian duo Dario Cataldo (Astana) and Alessandro de Marchi (BMC) were caught metres from the line after breaking away on the final descent.

However, the GC story of the day started much earlier. With the route packed with 6 climbs it was already a tough day. When Quick Step Floors, Trek Segafredo and Movistar attacked on the first climb – the Alt de Bot – it got tougher. All the top teams had their riders in the 50-strong front group except Team Sky. The gap hovered between one and two minutes as Sky chased, but with so many teams and riders willing to work at the front it quickly ballooned. The Sky group finally crossed the line some 26mins after Impey raised his arms, leaving Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas outside of the top 30.

Valverde retains the lead by 53secs from Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) with Movistar’s Marc Soler at +1:06. Don’t miss the final stage in Barcelona, as Valverde said: “There will be attacks for sure, Alberto’s sure to go for it.”

Highlights…

Young Valverdes taking no notice of those podium dolls… I’d be running away #stuffofnightmares

Smiles for miles – Yukiya Arashiro and Colin…

Full report at Cycling News.

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Header image: Daryl Impey  © JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images