Vuelta a Espana: Chris Froome loses ground to rival Joaquin Rodriguez

Froome loses ground after being beaten in sprint finish by rival Rodriguez

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UPDATED:

17:31 GMT, 23 August 2012

Team Sky's Chris Froome was edged out
in the final sprint as Katusha's Joaquin Rodriguez extended his lead in
the Vuelta a Espana to 10 seconds with victory on stage six.

Froome broke for the line in the
final 400 metres of the 175.4km stage from Tarazona to Jaca, but
Rodriguez was on his wheel and overtook him on the run-in.

Behind you: Chris Froome keeps a close eye on rival Joaquim Rodriguez

Behind you: Chris Froome keeps a close eye on rival Joaquim Rodriguez

The Spaniard won the stage by five seconds from his British red jersey rival, with Alejandro Valverde third and Alberto Contador next home to strengthen his hold on third place in the general classification.

The latter trails 25 seconds behind Froome overall, with Rigoberto Uran a further six seconds back in fourth and Robert Gesink competing the top five narrowly ahead of Valverde.

Impressive: Rodriguez celebrates winning the sixth stage

Impressive: Rodriguez celebrates winning the sixth stage

John Degenkolb, of Team Argos-Shimano, holds the sprinter's green jersey ahead of Rodriguez, Valverde and Froome, with Valverde second to Simon Clarke in the climber's standings.

Sky hold a lead of one minute and nine seconds in the team classification ahead of Rabobank, led by Gesink and Bauke Mollema.

Tour of Spain 2012: Chris Froome in second in overall standings

Froome in second after fourth stage in Tour of Spain in bid for Team Sky victory

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UPDATED:

17:53 GMT, 21 August 2012

Team GB time trial bronze medallist Chris Froome sits in second place in the overall standings of the Tour of Spain after the fourth stage.

The Briton was the 15th fastest rider on the day, but his performance in the fourth stage props him up in second place behind overall race leader Joaquim Rodriguez.

Closing in: Chris Froome will hope that by the end of the Tour he will swap second for first place

Closing in: Chris Froome will hope that by the end of the Tour he will swap second for first place

On his way to the top Chris Froome rode through fans before the fourth stage of Tour of Spain

On his way to the top Chris Froome rode through fans before the fourth stage of Tour of Spain

Australian Simon Clarke won stage four of the Tour of Spain on Tuesday.

Germany's Tony Martin came second to Orica GreenEdge rider Clarke on the summit finish at Valdezcaray. Kazakh Assan Bazayev was third.

Rodriguez replaced Alejandro Valverde as race leader after his fellow Spaniard crashed 20-km from the summit.

Clarke finished the 99-mile ride from Barakaldo ending in a summit finish at Estacion de Valdezcaray in 4 hours, 30 minutes, 26 seconds.

Long way to go: Joaquim Rodriguez celebrated becoming the overall leader after the fourth stage

Long way to go: Joaquim Rodriguez celebrated becoming the overall leader after the fourth stage

Impressive: Simon Clarke of Australia won the 99-mile stage in style

Impressive: Simon Clarke of Australia won the 99-mile stage in style

OVERALL STANDINGS

1 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain/ Katusha) 13:18:45″

2 Chris Froome (Britain/ Team Sky) +1sec

3 Alberto Contador (Spain/ Saxo Bank) +5sec

4 Bauke Mollema (Netherlands/ Rabobank) +9sec

5 Robert Gesink (Netherlands/ Rabobank)

6 Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/ Team Sky) +11sec

7 Daniel Moreno (Spain/ Katusha) +14sec

8 Nicolas Roche (Ireland/ AG2R) +24sec

9 Alejandro Valverde (Spain/ Movistar) +36sec

10 Laurens ten Dam (Netherlands/ Rabobank) +46sec

Rodriguez, runner-up at the Giro d'Italia, took the overall lead with Froome of Team Sky one second behind and Alberto Contador of SaxoBank five seconds back.

Valverde of Movistar started the stage as leader, but he fell to ninth place, 36 seconds off Rodriguez's pace after being involved in an accident in the peloton.

Wednesday's fifth stage is a 104-mile ride starting and ending in Logrono.

Tour de France runner-up Froome moved to within a second of the lead after the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

There is plenty of time to go in the 21-stage race, however, as the Tour ends on September 9.