French rider Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis won the sixth stage of the Volta de Catalunya on Saturday, and Joaquim Rodriguez maintained the overall lead going into the last stage.
Dumoulin edged teammate Rein Taaramae to take the 162km leg, which closed with an uphill sprint in Barcelona’s Montjuic Park, in 4 hours, 4 minutes and 45 seconds.
Rodriguez, who rides for Russian team Katusha, finished third in the same time to maintain his overall lead of 10 seconds over Xavier Tondo of Cervelo. Rodriguez leads with a time of 22:43:42, with Taaramae 43 seconds back in third.
The 31-year-old Rodriguez is on the verge of becoming the first Catalan winner of the event for 27 years.
The final stage of the 90th running of the race, scheduled for yesterday, is a 118km ride around Barcelona that finishes at motor racing’s Circuit de Catalunya.
■CRITERIUM INT’L
REUTERS, COL DE L’OSPEDALE, FRANCE
Lance Armstrong looked his age when he failed to follow the main pack in the first stage of the Criterium International on Saturday.
The 38-year-old American, seven times a Tour de France champion, finished four minutes 51 seconds off the pace after struggling in the closing 14.2km final ascent to the Col de l’Ospedale.
His early-season preparations were then called into question when he crossed the finish line in the shade of stone pines above the sunbathed bay of Porto Vecchio.
“I think you can only get that burst of speed you need [in the last ascent] by taking part in stage races,” his RadioShack team manager and long-time mentor Johan Bruyneel told reporters.
“We knew he would not be at his best physically at this stage of the season,” Bruyneel added, the man behind Armstrong’s seven Tour wins.
“He has not taken part in many races this year so it is logical he was not able [to follow the pace of the others] today. Plus he told me in the penultimate climb he was not having a good day,” Bruyneel said.
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