Volta a Catalunya leader Michael Albasini (GreenEdge) can add a new trophy to his collection. (Image credit: Rafael Gómez Alonso)
Stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya was delayed for 38 minutes after a collision between a police motorcycle and another car.
The incident occurred while the race was 70km into the 169.4km stage from Sant Fruitós de Bages to Badalona, at a time when a breakaway containing Mikael Cherel (AG2R-La Mondiale), Cédric Pineau (FDJ-Big Mat) and David Moncoutie (Cofidis) had a three minute lead on the peloton.
Both the motorcycle driver and the occupant of the car were injured in the head-on crash, and the race was stopped while the medics could attend to the motorcycle driver.
The race officials re-established the gap once racing was safe to resume, and the finish was 45 minutes behind schedule when Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) claimed the stage victory.
There has been no word on the condition of either victim of the incident.
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