Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) claimed the sixth and penultimate stage of the Volta a Catalunya as Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) continued in the overall lead on Saturday.
Matthews, who also won the second day of racing earlier in the week, pipped Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) by a tyre’s width following the final sprint after a flat route which ended in the town of Vilaseca.
Lopez retains his 14sec advantage over Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and is 17sec in front of fellow countryman Egal Bernal (Team Sky).
The peloton stepped up the pace on the five-man breakaway with 40km of the 174km route which at one stage held a three-minute lead and with 12km left the sprinters, including Matthews, caught up with the group.
Sunday’s final 143km stage starts and ends in Barcelona with the biggest climb an ascent up the 485m Creu d’Ordal as 25-year-old Lopez should maintain his leaders’ jersey to add to his Tour of Colombia title earlier in the year.
Volta a Catalunya 2019 – stage 6 results (Puigcerdà – Sant Cugat del Vallès):
| 1 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | 3:53:36 |
| 2 | Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 3 | Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 4 | Patrick Bevin (CCC) | ,, |
| 5 | Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias) | ,, |
| 6 | Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 7 | Ryan Gibbons (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 8 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | ,, |
| 9 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 10 | Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
Volta a Catalunya 2019 – general classification after stage 6:
| 1 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | 25:53:41 |
| 2 | Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +14” |
| 3 | Egan Bernal (Team Sky) | +17” |
| 4 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +25” |
| 5 | Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) | +46” |
| 6 | Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) | +56” |
| 7 | Michael Woods (EF Education First) | +01’42” |
| 8 | Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) | +01’44” |
| 9 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | +02’27” |
| 10 | Marc Soler (Movistar) | +02’36” |
