Davide Cimolai wins stage six of Volta a Catalunya as Chris Froome stays eighth

Italian Davide Cimolai claimed victory following a sprint finish on stage six of the Volta a Catalunya, as Team Sky's Chris Froome stayed eighth overall.

The Lampre-Merida racer crossed ahead of Giant-Alpecin's Nikias Arndt and Lotto Soudal's Tosh Van der Sande after breakaway leader Cameron Meyer, of Dimension Data, had finally been closed down over the last kilometre.

It was Lampre-Merida's first victory of a frustrating season. 

Movistar's Nairo Quintana retained his overall race lead with a finish in the peleton, seven seconds ahead of Spain's Alberto Contador, while defending champion Richie Porte remains in third 17 seconds back.

British star Froome is 46 seconds off the pace heading into the final hilly 136km circuit stage around the Montjuic area of Barcelona.

Cimolai said: "Finally, we got our first win after working hard all week. It was very important after an unfortunate season."

Quintana is expecting a tough challenge on Sunday as he goes for victory.

"Sure I am worried about the attacks of my rivals, I have no doubt they will try it," he said.

"A circuit like (Sunday's) is always difficult. But once you are at the front of the peloton, you have the option of letting yourself be carried along, and as long as you don't lose position you can manage it well."

"The pace was pretty high yet again today, but the team functioned extremely well during the stage. We were never in difficulty and we go into the final day full of desire and ambition."

Stage six result

1.  Davide Cimolai (Ita/Lampre) 4:35:13"

2.  Nikias Arndt (Ger/Giant) ST      

3.  Tosh Van der Sande (Bel/Lotto)                     

4.  Simon Gerrans (Aus/Orica)                        

5.  Daryl Impey (SA/Orica)                       

6.  Petr Vakoc (Cze/Etixx-Quick-Step)         

7.  Alexey Tsatevich (Rus/Katusha)                      

8.  Jonas Van Genechten (Bel/IAM Cycling)              

9.  Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned/LottoNL)                

10. Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra/FDJ)

General classification

1.  Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) 23:07:41"

2.  Alberto Contador (Spa/Tinkoff) +7"      

3.  Richie Porte (Aus/BMC Racing) +17"     

4.  Daniel Martin (Ire/Etixx-Quick-Step) +18"     

5.  Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC Racing) +27"     

6.  Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +31"     

7.  Ilnur Zakarin (Rus/Katusha) +42"     

8.  Chris Froome (Gbr/Team Sky) +46"     

9.  Hugh Carthy (Gbr/Caja Rural) +1:01"   

10. Rigoberto Uran (Col/Cannondale) +1:16"