Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors) claimed his second victory of the 2017 Vuelta a España, getting the better of Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) in a two-up sprint after the duo had forged clear on the descent of the Collado Bermejo.
The Italian, who won a bunch sprint in Tarragona on stage 4, was part of a four-man group that went clear from the 20-strong breakaway on the way up the first-category climb, and by the bottom of the 20km descent just Rojas stood between him and the victory.
And in truth, the Spaniard didn't put up much of a fight. He led through the final right-hand bend and opened up his sprint from range, giving Trentin ample time to hide in the slipstream before surging through in the final 100 metres – at which point Rojas simply sat up and acknowledged defeat.
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"I really wanted it. It was for a while I was thinking about this stage because the climb was hard, but it was a steady grind. It was something that I can handle pretty well," said Trentin, who made it four wins so far for Quick-Step at this Vuelta.
"I knew the downhill was really technical. For me it was good having Rojas in the front group because he was really, really good going down. I could just follow him. To be honest, when he was really pushing, I'm a good downhiller I think, but I was a bit in trouble to follow him. We could distance all the other guys on the downhill, then it was good in the sprint."
Chris Froome (Team Sky) retained his overall lead, despite a spirited onslaught from Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) on the long and sinuous descent, which was made all the more treacherous by the wet weather earlier in the day. Froome finished alongside most of his rivals, though there was a significant development as Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) produced a spirited descent of his own to finish almost half a minute clear of the GC group.
How it unfolded
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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