Yates victorious in stage six of Vuelta a Espana

BySportsbeat

Published 26/08/2016 at 11:48 GMT

British cyclist Simon Yates won his first Grand Tour stage victory on Thursday as he claimed stage six of the Vuelta a Espana.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

Yates crossed the line 20 seconds ahead of second-placed Spaniard Luis-Leon Sanchez and Italian Fabio Felline in third after a late attack on the 163.2km stage to Ribeira Sacra.

Orica Bike-Exchange rider Yates now sits tenth in the general classification, one minute and 28 seconds adrift of race leader Darwin Atapuma.

"There were lots of twists and turns but I managed to come down [the descent] perfectly and I timed my attack to perfection," said Yates.

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"We really set it up well and I managed to take the opportunity and finish.

"It wasn't planned. We just tried to make it a hard race and I am really happy."

Olympic time trial bronze medallist Chris Froome finished in the peloton to stay third in the overall rankings, with Spaniard Alejandro Valverde sitting in second.

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