Laverde times attack to perfection

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The boys from Colombian es Pasión snagged their second win in as many days during Friday's stage six, as Giro d'Italia stage winner Luis Felipe Laverde earned a narrow solo victory in Tunja, the capital of the Boyacá department.

After a challenging 165km stage that saw its share of breakaways and attacks on the tri-color jersey, Laverde outpaced Loteria De Boyacá's Jose Alarcon by five seconds, with yesterday's stage winner Fabio Duarte and race leader Óscar Sevilla a further three seconds behind.

"I feel I had a very good day today," Laverde said. "My expertise from the Giro was important because I had the brains to know when to attack for the stage win."

One of the day's more active members in the field was last year's winner, Venezuelan Jose Rujano of the Loteria de Boyacá squad. For much of the day Rujano was either on the move himself or sending his teammates to tempt Sevilla's squad of Indeportes Antioquia to counter.

Just after the day's first climb, the modest category three Alto Piñalandia, a group of real general classification contenders made a break that included Rujano, Duarte, GW Shimano's Félix "El Gato" Cárdenas and the dual EPM-UNE threat of Giovanni Baez and Mauricio Oretega. The attack, however, did not amount to much as it was reeled in quickly.

As the race made its way to the second climb of the day, the skies darkened and it looked like Sevilla's chances at staying in the leader's jersey might have as well.

A group of five riders had broken away from the peloton and were able to maintain a gap of approximately 1:30. Two riders in the group, GW Shimano's Jaime Suaza and Colombia es Pasion's Robinson Chalapud dropped off the back, leaving a select group of three, which included Loteria's de Boyacá's Manuel Medina, to attack the climb.

Medina would prove an important pawn in Rujano's plans for the day, as Rujano jumped from the peloton and caught the three riders on the slopes of the Alto La Cumbre, finishing fourth over the climb.

Rujano and the other three riders created a gap between themselves and Sevilla by the time they descended into the valley before the day's third climb, the category one Alto del Sote.

Rujano kept his lead until the ascent of the Alto del Sote, when Nectar de Cundiamarca's Diego Quintero decided to try and shake Rujano and Medina. The two Loteria de Boyacá riders decided to wait it out for the rest of the peloton, which was a smart move as Indeportes Antioquia and Colombia es Pasión did some fine work at the front of the pack to close the gap and eventually overtake the two Venezuelan riders.

"All the teams worked well," Sevilla said. "But Colombia es Pasión and us really worked together to close down the time gap."

Almost as soon as the group came back together, the attacks started again. This time it was EBSA's Oscar Solis who gained a small gap before being joined by eventual stage winner Laverde and Alarcon.

"It was very complicated when the little break got away, but I was able to reduce the gap and catch them," Laverde said.

The peloton was never far behind and by the time the race entered Tunja, Laverde was able to hold the attackers off to take his first stage win since stage six of the 2007 Giro d'Italia.

For Sevilla's efforts on the day he retains the leader's jersey and gained time on his closest rival, Dalivier Ospina, who is now 35 seconds behind Sevilla in third place. Sevilla's teammate, Sergio Luis Henao, moved into second place and is 11 seconds behind his captain.

Félix Cárdenas is 1:21 back in fourth and EPM-UNE's Javier González sits in fifth, 1:32 behind Sevilla in the general classification.

On paper, tomorrow looks like a breather from the previous two days in the mountains, but with an altitude that never dips below 2,400 meters it will still challenge the lungs of the peloton. The race begins at the Puente de Boyacá, the bridge erected to commemorate the Battle of Boyacá in Colombia's independence war.

With the country celebrating its bicentennial, the Vuelta celebrating its 60th anniversary and the inauguration of President Juan Manuel Santos planned for the same day, look for Saturday's stage to be lined with Colombian flags as well as some tight racing.