February 26, 2014 (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) – There was a lot of excitement on day six of the Vuelta Independencia Nacional in a day that hosted both a 111km road stage (6a) and the 20km individual time trial (6b). Jure Kocjan (Slo) Team SmartStop grabbed his second stage victory of the tour with an impressive sprint finish in the morning’s road stage.
With teams once again racing aggressively, there were a number of attacks with riders wanting to break away from the peloton. Jure Kocjan’s breakaway move came around the 30km mark and it was unsure whether it would still or not with 80km still to race.
But the peloton was content at holding the break at just under two minutes for most of the stage, the break eventually got out to four minutes before finishing just over two minutes ahead of the bunch.
Coming into the final stretch of the stage, Jure’s legs proved to be the best of the five escapes to take the stage win. With his stage win, he was also awarded the points jersey following the stage but this was short lived as the yellow jersey holder, Edwin Sanchez took it back following the individual time trial. Jure sits in second place by one point for the points jersey.
Stage 6b – 20km ITT
In the afternoon’s individual time trial, the six Team SmartStop riders rode extremely well putting three riders into the top ten of the stage.
Being in second on the overall general classification, Rob Britton was the penultimate rider to head out onto the course; he had a great ride with a time of 12:22, fifth equal with Andres Diaz from InCycle-Predator Team. First place went to Wilson Marentes Torres with a time of 12:06, who Director, Michael Creed, said was just flying. Zach Bell and Eric Marcotte both also placed in the top ten.
In the afternoon’s individual time trial, the six Team SmartStop riders rode extremely well putting three riders into the top ten of the stage.
Being in second on the overall general classification, Rob Britton was the penultimate rider to head out onto the course; he had a great ride with a time of 12:22, fifth equal with Andres Diaz from InCycle-Predator Team. First place went to Wilson Marentes Torres with a time of 12:06, who Director, Michael Creed, said was just flying. Zach Bell and Eric Marcotte both also placed in the top ten.
The penultimate stage will be another long day of racing with a 177km road stage from San Cristobal to Santo Domingo and is flat and rolling, three sprints and 3 KOMs, very similar to previous days stages.
Results
Stage 6a – La Vega-Santo Domingo – 107km
1. Jure Kocjan (Slo) Team SmartStop 2:42:36
2. Janis Dakteris (Lat) Defferdange Inteja
3. Jorge Martinez (Dom) La Vega Cne
4. Andres Mendoza (Dom) Finauto
5. Ardrainzhan Ishanov (Kaz) Kazakhstan
6. Xavier Nieves (Ven) Tachira Concafe 2:08
7. Yordalis Hernandez (Dom) Asocipe Moca
8. Maxat Ayazbayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan
9. Rigoberto Rodriguez (Dom) Asocipe Moca
10. Deivy Capellan (Dom) S. Pedro De Macoris
42. Zach Bell (Can) Team SmartStop
48. Rob Britton (Can) Team SmartStop
Stage 6b – Santo Domingo-Mirador Sur – 20km ITT
1. Wilson Marentes (Col) Formesan 0:12:06
2. Pedro Herrera (Col) Formesan 0:04
3. Carlos Galviz (Ven) Tachira Concafe 0:08
4. Edwin Sanchez (Col) Formesan 0:12
5. Andres Diaz (Col) Incycle Predator 0:16
6. Rob Britton (Can) Team SmartStop
7. Zach Bell (Can) Team SmartStop 0:18
8. Pedro Torres (Col) La Vega Cne 0:30
9. Eric Marcotte (USA) Team SmartStop 0:39
10. Coulton Hartrich (USA) Finauto 0:42
GC after Stage 6b
1. Edwin Sanchez (Col) Formesan 17:27:10
2. Rob Britton (Can) Team SmartStop 1:54
3. Pedro Torres (Col) La Vega Cne 2:17
4. Carlos Galviz (Ven) Tachira Concafe 5:10
5. Wilson Marentes (Col) Formesan 6:13
6. Andres Diaz (Col) Incycle Predator 6:28
7. Felix Cardenas (Col) Formesan 7:09
8. Pedro Herrera (Col) Formesan 8:17
9. Addelyn Cruz (Dom) Finauto 9:01
10. Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Kazakhstan 13:13
39. Zach Bell (Can) Team SmartStop 28:17