Ireland's Dan Martin has finished in 10th place in the sixth stage of the Tour of Catalonia - with South Africa's Daryl Impey claiming the stage win.
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde - second in today's stage - leads the overall classification by 53 seconds from fellow countryman Alberto Contador with Martin in sixth place two minutes and 19 seconds down.
Chris Froome fell out of contention after being trapped on the wrong side of a peloton split.
⏰ El grup de @chrisfroome arriba a la meta 26 minuts després de l'arribada massiva#VoltaCatalunya pic.twitter.com/XgOfFpvbVc
— Volta a Catalunya (@VoltaCatalunya) March 25, 2017
Italians Alessandro De Marchi and Dario Cataldo looked set to contest a two-man sprint after jumping away from the leading group 15km from the end but they were reined in within 50 metres of the line as Orica Scott's Impey surged ahead.
Valverde (Movistar) took second place ahead of French champion Arthur Vichot (FDJ) to extend his overall lead while Team Sky's Froome, who started the day in second place, lost more than 20 minutes.
The Tour de France champion was far back in the pack with all his team mates when it split in a descent and the whole Team Sky lost contact with the leading group.
They gradually lost ground, then hope, as the gap increased rapidly.
Valverde now leads his compatriot Alberto Contador (Trek Segafredo) by 53 seconds and another Spaniard, his Movistar team mate Marc Soler, by one minute six seconds.
Sunday's seventh and final stage will take the peloton over 138.7km around Barcelona.
Classificació general després etapa 6 prov.
— Volta a Catalunya (@VoltaCatalunya) March 25, 2017
Overall standings after stage 6 pic.twitter.com/gI4lrKYTC5
