By Tadhg Peavoy
Dan Martin has further extended his lead in the Volta a Catalunya after the penultimate stage ended in a bunch sprint at the end of the 179km sixth stage from Almacelles to Valls.
The stage itself was won by Gianni Meersman of Orica-GreenEdge, who also won the Volta's opening two stages, and was the winner of the 2012 Milan-San Remo.
Irishman Martin remains top of the general classification, extending his lead over Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha from 14 to 17 seconds; Martin picked up three bonus seconds in an early intermediate sprint.
The race ends in Barcelona tomorrow after eight laps of a circuit which features Montjuic.
Volta a Catalunya, Spain (WorldTour)
Stage 6: Almacellas - Valls:
1 Simon Gerrans (Australia / Orica) 3:55:46
2 Gianni Meersman (Belgium / Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) ST
3 Daniele Ratto (Italy / Cannondale)
4 Samuel Dumoulin (France / AG2R)
5 Danilo Wyss (Switzerland / BMC Racing)
Overall:
1 Daniel Martin (Ireland / Garmin) 26:16:22
2 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Katusha) +17
3 Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar) +45
4 Bradley Wiggins (Britain / Team Sky) +54
5 Michele Scarponi (Italy / Lampre) +55
