Astana's Fraile, Lopez in Top 10 of La Vuelta Ciclista A Espana Stage 6

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - The race had exploded inside the final 30 kilometers of stage 6 (Huércal-Overa - San Javier. Mar Menor, 155,7 km) with a big crash in the middle of the peloton, a strong crosswind and the echelons. In this moment Astana Pro Team did its best to protect Miguel Angel Lopez and to keep him in front of the group, Kazinform has learnt from the club's official website. 

"I want to thank my team for fantastic work my teammates did today. It was a very dangerous final, but the whole team supported me really well, so I finished this stage without any trouble. All guys were super, while in the final, Pello Bilbao and later Dario Cataldo and Omar Fraile did a super job for me. It was a mess on the crosswind and the group had an incredible speed. But, for us everything finished good," said Miguel Angel Lopez.

"I heard that there was a crash in the group but, honestly, I did not see it. It was somewhere behind me. After coming out from a town there was a road with a crosswind and the pace immediately increased. So, we just did our best to bring Miguel Angel in front and to keep him up there all the way to the finish line. I think, we did a great job as a team and I am proud of Astana in this stage," added Omar Fraile.

A group of 50 riders came to the finish line in San Javier, where the Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni won the sprint ahead of Danny Van Poppel and Elia Viviani. Omar Fraile was 7th, Miguel Angel Lopez finished 8th, while Dario Cataldo did 21st.

The French rider Rudy Molard keeps the red jersey of the GC leader after this stage, while Miguel Angel Lopez moved up to 12th place, 1 minute 27 seconds behind the leader.

Astana is keeping its lead in the team classification.

Stage 7 of the Vuelta a España will be held tomorrow: it will be a 185,7 km race from Puerto Lumbreras to Pozo Alcón.