Vine wins stage six as Traeen claims Vuelta lead

Jay Vine won two individual stages during the 2022 Vuelta a Espana

Jay Vine powered to victory in stage six of the Vuelta a Espana as Torstein Traeen came second to take the overall race lead.

Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) led a solo attack in the final 20km after breaking away from a 10-man group which got away early on the 170.3km stretch across the Pyrenees from Olot in Catalonia to Pal in Andorra.

It was a third individual Vuelta stage win for the 29-year-old Australian, who lives in Andorra.

"The Vuelta wasn't on my schedule originally, so to be able to win in Andorra in front of my son and wife is unbelievable and incredibly motivating," said Vine.

"I know these roads pretty well. I'm from just down the hill, and La Comella is my favourite climb in all of Andorra."

Norway's Traeen, 30, finished 54 seconds behind Vine but the Bahrain Victorious rider jumped from 26th to first in the general classification.

Traeen, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022 and announced he was free from the disease the following year, holds a 31-second lead over France's Bruno Armirail in the overall rankings.

Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) finished third in the first summit finish of the race and is also third in the GC standings.

Meanwhile, two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, who began the day with the red jersey, dropped to fifth overall and now trails Traeen by 2mins 33secs.

Great Britain's James Shaw (EF Education-Easy Post) took sixth place on Thursday and is 21st overall.

Friday's seventh stage of the Vuelta is another mountain stage, starting at Andorra la Vella and finishing at Cerler.

Torstein Traeen won the mountains classification at the 2022 Tour of the Alps

Vuelta a Espana stage six result

1. Jay Vine (Aus/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4hrs 12mins 36secs

2. Torstein Traeen (Nor/Bahrain Victorious) +54secs

3. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita/XDS-Astana) +1min 10secs

4. Bruno Armirail (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +1min 15secs

5. Pablo Castrillo Zapater (Spa/Movistar) +1min 52secs

6. James Shaw (GB/EF Education-Easy Post) +2mins 5secs

7. Louis Vervaeke (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +2mins 15secs

8. Ramses Debruyne (Bel/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +2mins 19secs

9. Archie Ryan (Ire/EF Education-Easy Post) +2mins 42secs

10. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4mins 19secs

General classification after stage six

1. Torstein Traeen (Nor/Bahrain Victorious) 20hrs 25mins 46secs

2. Bruno Armirail (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +31secs

3. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita/XDS-Astana) +1min 1sec

4. Louis Vervaeke (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +1min 58secs

5. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma–Lease a Bike) +2mins 33secs

6. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2mins 41secs

7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +2mins 42secs

8. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +2mins 49secs

9. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +2mins 53secs

10. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) same time