VALLS, Spain – Australian Simon Gerrans won the sixth stage of the Tour of Catalonia on Saturday as Ireland's Daniel Martin retained his lead at the top of the overall standings.
Gerrans, who rides for Orica-GreenEDGE, prevailed in a sprint finish to the penultimate day's 178.7km run from Almacelles to Valls, beating Belgian Gianni Meersman, already a double stage winner of the race, and Daniele Ratto of Italy.
Race leader Martin extended his advantage over Joaquim Rodriguez by three seconds to 17sec with a 45sec gap back to Nairo Quintana.
The sixth stage was punctuated by an eight-man breakaway, eventually caught by the peloton four kilometres from the end.
Sunday's seventh and final stage is a 122.2km ride from El Vendrell to Barcelona, with the finish up the slopes of Montjuic where Rodriguez will be aiming to attack Martin. – Sapa-AFP