Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) made a late charge on the final climb to win the sixth stage of the Vuelta, with Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) coming in second to take the overall lead.
Herrada moved past Teuns with about 200 meters to go on the 198.9-kilometer stage that finished on a hill top in Ares del Maestrat in eastern Spain.
Former leader Miguel Angel Lopez dropped to third overall, one minute behind Teuns. David de la Cruz (Team Ineos) moved to second, 38 seconds off the lead.
Nicolas Roche, one of the early overall leaders, was among the riders who had to withdraw from the Vuelta after a crash in the peloton. Rigoberto Uran, Hugh Carthy and Victor de la Parte also withdrew after being involved in the crash, which happened shortly after the stage’s halfway point.
“I started to realise that it was possible to get the leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour. It was a goal in this Vuelta and yeah, I did it,” said the new Vuelta leader. “I knew it was possible, that’s why yesterday I was disappointed about not being in the break. But I still kept going on the climb so as not to lose too much time. It was all in the plan actually.
“With 4km to go, I knew a 3-4 minute climb is my speciality, like the Ardennes, and from there I just went full gas, with the hope nobody would stay in the wheel, but there was one guy who could follow. He didn’t want to do a turn, and then I didn’t have the punch anymore. I gave everything for the jersey today. Also for the victory, but in the end one guy was smarter or stronger.”
On Friday, riders will face a 183-kilometer stage that will end with a challenging climb in Mas de la Costa.
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – stage 6 results (Mora de Rubielos – Ares del Maestrat):
| 1 | Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) | 4:43:55 |
| 2 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrian-Merida) | +07” |
| 3 | Dorian Godon (AG2R La Mondiale) | +21” |
| 4 | Robert Gesink (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 5 | Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ) | +37” |
| 6 | Pawel Poljanski (Bora-hansgrohe) | +39” |
| 7 | Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) | +45” |
| 8 | Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) | +47” |
| 9 | David de la Cruz (Team Ineos) | +50” |
| 10 | Tsgabu Grmay (Mitchelton-Scott) | +02’35” |
| 11 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +05’42” |
| 12 | Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) | +05’44” |
| 13 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | ,, |
| 14 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | ,, |
| 15 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | ,, |
| 16 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 17 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 18 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 19 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 20 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – general classification after stage 6:
| 1 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrian-Merida) | 23:44:00 |
| 2 | David de la Cruz (Team Ineos) | +38” |
| 3 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +01’00” |
| 4 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | +01’14” |
| 5 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +01’23” |
| 6 | Robert Gesink (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 7 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +01’28” |
| 8 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | +02’17” |
| 9 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | +02’18” |
| 10 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +02’47” |
| 11 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +02’50” |
| 12 | Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) | +02’54” |
| 13 | Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) | +03’26” |
| 14 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | +03’29” |
| 15 | Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) | +03’46” |
| 16 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | +03’47” |
| 17 | Oscar Rodriguez (Euskadi-Murias) | +04’37” |
| 18 | Ruben Guerreiro (Katusha-Alpecin) | +04’38” |
| 19 | Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) | +04’49” |
| 20 | Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) | +05’07” |
