Marked by a massive mass crash, Jesus Herrada has won the sixth stage of the 74th Tour of Spain. The 29-year-old Spaniard won on Thursday after 198.9 kilometers from Mora del Rubielos to Ares del Maestart ahead of fellow rider Dylan Teuns from Belgium, who took over the red shirt of the overall from Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez. The favorites had reached the finish almost six minutes behind.
At the center of the stage was a mass crash a good 80 kilometers from the finish. It also had to give up the Colombian ambitions Rigoberto Uran and the last in the overall ranking leading Irishman Nicolas Roche of the German Sunweb team.
Also the four-time time trial world champion Tony Martin was involved, but could continue the journey. Roche and Uran finished sixth and sixth respectively, more than a minute behind Lopez. Uran's team-mate Hugh Carthy from Great Britain and Victor de la Parte from Spain also had to end the tour in the wake of the mass crash.
On Friday, the Vuelta continues with the seventh stage over 182.4 kilometers from Onda to Mas de la Costa. The climbing specialists will be in demand: at the end of the stage, an increase of 3.8 kilometers is expected with an average gradient of ten percent.
