The 24-year-old from the German Team Bora-Hansgrohe was on Saturday after 167 kilometers in the Sprint second behind Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (Ecuador / Ineos-Grenadiers).
The duo was already torn on the first mountain of the day and successfully defended his lead at the Costa Daurada. Higuita took the jersey of the overall leader in the Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), even in the mountain classification he is now at the top. Second in the total classification, Carapaz is residue with 16 seconds. Almeida (+52 seconds) fell back to third place.
Allergy: Valverde must give up
The seventh and last stage leads on Sunday over 139 km, start and aim is in Barcelona. Higuita could become the fourth Colombian winner in the traditional stage race in the north of Spain. However, a demanding day is waiting for the drivers: alone seven times it goes over the Montjuic, the steep hill on which the 1992 Olympic Stadium is.
Routinier Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), winner of the tour, gave up before the penultimate stage. The 41-year-old Spaniard, which accounts for opportunities in the Ardennes classics in April, did not respond to allergy and respiratory problems.
Statistics
6. Stage Salou / Spain – Cambrils / Spain (167.60 km)
1. Richard Carapaz Montenegro (Ecuador) – Ineos Grenadiers 4:09:19 hrs.; 2. Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Colombia) – Bora Hansgrohe + 0 sec.; 3. Caden Groves (Australia) – BikeExchange + 48; 4. Simone Velasco (Italy) – Astana Qazaqstan team; 5. Quentin Pacher (France) – Groupama-FDJ; 6. Jan Bakelants (Belgium) – Wanty-Gobert; 7. Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spain) – Caja Rural Seguros RGA; 8. Dorian Godon (France) – AG2R Citroën Team; 9. Mattias Skjelmosis Jensen (Denmark) – Trek – SegaFredo; 10. Henri Vandenabeele (Belgium) – Team DSM
Total standings single, stand after the 6th stage:
1. Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Colombia) – Bora-Hansgrohe 26:35:24 hrs.; 2. Richard Carapaz Montenegro (Ecuador) – Ineos Grenadiers + 16 sec.; 3. Joao Almeida (Portugal) – UAE Team Emirates + 52; 4. Nairo Quintana (Colombia) – Team Arkea-Samsic + 53; 5. Juan Ayuso Pesquera (Spain) – UAE Team Emirates + 1:08 min.; 6. Wouter Poels (Netherlands) – Bahrain Victorious + 1:10; 7. Ben O’Connor (Australia) – AG2R Citroën Team; 8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Norway) – UNO-X Pro Cycling Team + 1:13; 9. Guillaume Martin (France) – Cofidis + 1:16; 10. Torstein Traeen (Norway) – UN-X Pro Cycling Team + 1:27
mountain rating, stand after the 6th stage:
1. Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Colombia) – Bora-Hansgrohe 24 Point; 2. Mikel Bizkarra (Spain) – Euskaltel – Euskadi 21; 3. other OKamika (Spain) – Burgos – BH 20; 4. Marc Soler (Spain) – UAE Team Emirates 20; 5. Richard Carapaz Montenegro (Ecuador) – Ineos Grenadiers 16; 6. Jesús Herrada Lopez (Spain) – Cofidis 14; 7. Nairo Quintana (Colombia) – Team Arkea-Samsic 14; 8. Joao Almeida (Portugal) – UAE Team Emirates 13; 9. Casper Pedersen (Denmark) – Team DSM 12; 10. Juan Ayuso Pesquera (Spain) – UAE Team Emirates 11
Sprinting, stand after the 6th stage:
1. Richard Carapaz Montenegro (Ecuador) – Ineos Grenadiers 15 pts; 2. Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Colombia) – Bora-Hansgrohe 15; 3. Caden Groves (Australia) – BikeExchange 14; 4. Phil Bauhaus (Cologne) – Bahrain Victorious 12; 5. Joao Almeida (Portugal) – UAE Team Emirates 11; 6. Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Norway) – Team DSM 11; 7. Ben O’Connor (Australia) – AG2R Citroën Team 10; 8. Ethan Vernon (United Kingdom) – Deceuninck-Quick-Step 10; 9. Nairo Quintana (Colombia) – Team Arkea-Samsic 10; 10. Juan Ayuso Pesquera (Spain) – UAE Team Emirates 8
Team rating, stand after the 6th stage:
1. Bahrain Victorious (Bahrain) 79:51:24 hrs.; 2. UAE Team Emirates (United Arab Emirates) + 2:53 min.; 3. Groupama FDJ (France) + 6:12; 4. UNO-X Pro Cycling Team (Norway) + 6:28; 5. Ineos Grenadiers (United Kingdom) + 6:34; 6. Bora Hansgrohe (Germany) + 6:58; 7. Trek – Segafredo (USA) + 8:13; 8. Wanty-Gobert (Belgium) + 11:30; 9. Movistar Team (Spain) + 18:02; 10. Astana Qazaqstan Team (Kazakhstan) + 20:26;… 23. Team DSM (Germany) + 1:40:08 hrs.