Matthews wins his second stage in Catalonia, Lopez retains overall lead

MADRID, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Australian cyclist Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) won the sixth stage of the Vuelta de Catalunya (Tour of Catalonia) on Saturday.

Matthews, who won the second stage of the race and finished second on Friday, finished a tire-width ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) in a group sprint which came after an exciting last 10 kilometers of the day.

The 174-kilometer stage from Valls to Vila-Seca (north of Barcelona) was over rolling countryside, but didn't include any major surprises for the riders, with the main pack remaining together for much of the day.

As expected, the day saw a breakaway, but that was neutralized before the closing kilometers and although the Movistar team attempted to split the main peloton with around 5 kilometers remaining, it was race leader Miguel Angel Lopez, who launched an attack to try and ride clear of the group with just 3 kilometers left to go.

Lopez was reeled in with around 1,500 meters left to ride to set up a sprint finish where Matthews showed his excellent moment of form to just hold on from Bauhaus.

Lopez finished eighth on the stage and takes a 14-second lead over Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) into the final 143-kilometer final stage which ends with several circuits of Montjuic in the center of Barcelona.