Hushovd claims sprint victory in sixth Vuelta stage
Norwegian Thor Hushovd won the fourth Vuelta a Espana stage of his career after a sprint finish in Murcia on Thursday.
Hushovd managed to overcome the second category climb that began just 20km before the finish to win ahead of Liquigas-Doimo's Daniele Bennati and Grega Bole of Lampre-Farnese Vini.
"It was a hard day but I'm feeling good on the climbs and getting better and better, so I still had something left for the sprint. A stage like this is perfect for me," the Cervelo Test Team rider told the press after the race. "I knew this kind of climb wasn't suitable for sprinters like Mark Cavendish. I was going uphill mostly in fifth position behind [Philippe] Gilbert and [Filippo] Pozzato who were third and fourth. I dropped down 20 to 25 places 1.5 kilometres before the top of the hill but I got back on the descent."
Late climb the main event
The main event of Stage 6 was the Alto de la Cresta del Gallo climb after 130km, around which most of the day's action was centered.
By the time the riders hit the ascent, breakaway trio Juan Javier Estrada, Freddy Bichot and Markus Eichler could no longer hold on to the lead they had built from early on.
Team Katusha whipped up the pace during the climb, causing the peloton to diminish to 50 riders.
The descent down the Cresta del Gallo was arguably the greatest obstacle faced by riders on the day.
The downhill stretch saw several breakaways from the peloton. Katusha's Vladimir Karpets and Filippo Pozzato made two early attempts. Omega Pharma-Lotto's Gilbert joined Pozzato, but the pair had to give up their lead with 14km left of the stage.
Kazakh team Astana's Dmitry Fofonov went at it alone just before the end of the route, but his attempt came to an end 7.5km before the finish line.
In the final kilometres, Hushovd showed why he won the Tour de France points classification in 2005 and 2009, finishing first of the 71 riders taking part in the sprint.
Hushovd reverts to supporting role
Having claimed a stage win in this year's edition, Hushovd said he will resort to supporting his teammate Theo Bos in the remaining stages of the Vuelta.
"I don't have any plan to go for breakaways like at the Tour de France where I sometimes do so for the green jersey. I don't think I'll use energy for nothing here. At the start of the Vuelta, the news about Cervélo closing the team was disturbing. Knowing now that my future is with Garmin-Cervélo has helped me to be mentally focused on today’s stage win."
GIlbert remains top in the overall standings after finishing sixth in Thursday's stage. Igor Anton of Euskaltel-Euskadi and Katusha's Joaquin Rodriguez both trail him by 10 seconds.
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