France's Nacer Bouhanni won stage six of the Vuelta a Espana in a reduced bunch in San Javier as Rudy Molard retained the race leader's red jersey.
Bouhanni (Cofidis) sprinted to victory at the end of the 155.7-kilometre stage from Huercal-Overa ahead of Holland's Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Italy's Elia Viviani (QuickStep-Floors).
Molard (Groupama-FDJ) retained the race lead he had assumed on Wednesday by finishing among the pack of 50, but his team-mate Thibaut Pinot, an overall contender, lost one minute 44 seconds to his rivals.
Team Sky's Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland remains second, 41 seconds behind, with Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) of Germany third, seven seconds further back.
The split was caused by a crash with 25km remaining and crosswinds, leading to a frantic finish with Bouhanni emerging victorious.
A reduced bunch sprint is anticipated on Friday's 185.7km seventh stage, from Puerto-Lumbreras to Pozo Alcon.
