Valverde nears Catalonia win on disastrous day for Froome
REUS: Daryl Impey claimed stage six of the Tour of Catalonia on Saturday as Alejandro Valverde extended his overall lead to 53 seconds over Alberto Contador.
However, three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome plunged from second place to 31st after losing more than 26 minutes on the 189.7km stage from Tortosa to Reus.
Impey edged out Valverde in a sprint finish to the line to deny the Spaniard his third stage win of the Tour in 4hrs 34mins 14secs with Frenchman Arthur Vichot in third.
“I was just happy to have the legs for the sprint because I rode quite hard early on,” said Impey.
“We moved (Adam) Yates up overall so to get the win on top of that is fantastic.”
Yates moved up to fourth in the general classification behind Valverde’s Movistar teammate Marc Soler, thanks to Froome's implosion.
The damage for the Briton was done early in the day as he missed out as a lead group of around 50 riders including Valverde and Contador formed on the first descent on an undulating stage after just 25 kilometres.
Froome, accompanied by his entire team, was unable to bridge a gap which grew throughout the stage leaving him out of contention.
In the lead group Valverde was well-protected by his teammates from any attacks by Contador as he edged towards a second overall win in Catalonia.
And he gained an extra six seconds on Contador thanks to the bonus time on offer from finishing second in the stage.
All Movistar riders were handed a minute’s penalty for infringements by Jose Joaquin Rojas in tomorrow’s team time trial. AFP charges in France.
Fredericks said he had a contract with the sports marketing company and the timing of the payment was coincidental.
He reported details of the case to ethics commissions at the IOC and IAAF and had already stepped aside from all his duties at the IOC, which included leading the group evaluating the cities bidding to host the 2024 Olympics.
He also previously withdrew from the IAAF taskforce looking at doping in Russia.
The 49-year-old Fredericks won four Olympic silver medals in the 1990s. AP