On stage 6, a long-distance attack by Richard Calapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Sergio Igita (Bora-Hansgrohe) ended in the best way for the Ecuadorians.

The two South Americans had one of the most exciting days of stage racing in recent memory as they tackled a seemingly hard but not impossible challenge that took them over 130 km through the Sierra region of southern Catalunya.

UAE Team Emirates and race leader Joan Almeida made an epic, rain-soaked push.

Calapaz and Igita combined brilliantly throughout the stage, right down to the last few meters.

"At the start, we had planned to attack on the first climb. I knew the early stages would be the hardest and if the peloton went straight up, there was little chance of a breakaway and it could have been brought down to a sprint.

"So I went for the sprint from the beginning. Higuchi and I worked well together and that allowed us to get away."

The lead reached a maximum of 3:30, with Uno X's hard work at the back of the field cutting the gap by one minute.

But the breakaway group persevered, and after a failed attack by Boi Taul, the summit finish of stage 4, Calapaz was able to celebrate victory.

After retiring from Tirreno-Adriatico with a stomach ailment, Kalapas said that going into his first competition, he needed to take it one day at a time and watch the race.

"I knew I should be in good shape at the Volta a Catalunya, and I tried and almost got there.

"Then I knew it was a really hard stage today, with almost 3,000 meters of climbing, and I knew the terrain suited a rider like me. So to win this stage today, I'm very emotional."

"I'm very happy to have won this stage.

Asked if he and Higuchi ever had an arrangement where he would win the stage and the Colombian would lead, Karapas replied, "I knew he was ahead in the overall, but in the two intermediate sprints he won one and I won the other."

"We didn't fight for the mountains prize. But until the last sprint, we were fighting for a few seconds in time bonuses that would determine the overall win."

Currently in second place overall, 16 seconds behind Higuain, Carapaz is still within striking distance of the overall win with just one technical and tough stage remaining through Barcelona's Parc Montjuïc.

"It's a really complicated stage, the last circuit always decides a lot, with hard climbs and dangerous descents in places," said Calapaz.

"It would be great to win, but if you can get on the podium that would be a great result too.

Ineos Grenadiers swept the podium in Catalunya last year with Adam Yates, Richie Porte, and Geraint Thomas, but this year former Catalunya winner Porte retired on stage 2 due to illness, and on stages 3 and 4 The team has steadily lost riders, with Michał Kwiatkowski and Pavel Sivakov abandoning the race.

Of the four riders remaining in the race, Calapaz had two riders in his chase group, Carlos Rodriguez and Jonathan Castroviejo. But it was Calapaz who finished their work.

"We had a very tough start to the season, but we managed to win a stage and move up in the overall standings.