Spaniard Gustavo Cesar surprised the peloton to take a wholly unexpected win in the Tour of Catalonia.

After seven days of hotly disputed racing, the little-known Karpin-Galicia rider finished a mere 16 seconds ahead of Colombian Rigoberto Uran. Frenchman Remi Pauriol was third, 21 seconds back.

Fifth overall prior to Sunday's rain-soaked stage from Palleja to Barcelona, Cesar infiltrated a 14-man break some 50 kilometres from the line.

Cesar and Spaniard Jose Luis Carrasco then took off eight kilometres from the finish in a downpour, with Carrasco taking the stage and Cesar the final victory.

"The guys higher up in the classification failed to notice I'd made it into the break," Cesar, whose biggest previous win was a stage in the Tour of Portugal, said.

"Then I attacked close to the line and was able to take the most important victory of my career and in the history of my team.

"It was a tough win, I was absolutely exhausted, but both me and Carrasco had something to gain," he added.

"All the luck I should have had in previous races this year finally came together and gave me the win."

Stage winner Carrasco, who rides for the Andalucia-Caja Sur team, said: "I didn't expect to get this victory.

"Our team fast man, Francisco Ventoso, was in the break with me and Cesar and in theory I was working for him.

"But then when Cesar attacked, I followed his wheel - and ended up with the stage win."

Part of the ProTour series of races, after the Tour of Catalonia Italian Damiano Cunego remains the overall leader.

STAGE SIX

Italian Francesco Chicchi took an emphatic bunch sprint victory in stage six.

Second behind the Liquigas rider, more than two bike lengths adrift, was Colombian Leonardo Duque with Swiss rider Marcus Zberg finishing third.

"I accelerated hard with about 250 metres to go, and that did the trick, it gave me a big lead," Chicchi said.

"My move surprised the rest of the field although it was a bit risky.

"I miscalculated slightly, the last few metres I had to sit down I was so tired. But by then I'd done the hard work I needed to win."

A five-man breakaway containing Chicchi's team mate Manuel Qunziato meant Chicchi could relax prior to the final bunch sprint.

"Once the break was caught, Manuel gave me a hand in the final 15 kilometres," he said.

"This is my third win of the season, and I hope it will help convince the team that I should have a ride in the Tour (de France). At the very least, it can't have done any harm."

Overall, Frenchman Remi Pauriol retained his slender two-second lead over Spaniard Josep Jufre. Haimar Zubeldia of Spain is third, seven seconds back.

"There's only one stage to go now," Credit Agricole rider Pauriol said.

"But at least I got through today. Tomorrow I'll be watching Jufre like a hawk."

STAGE FIVE

Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel won the fifth stage of the Tour of Catalonia after a superb lone breakaway.

Thor Hushovd of Norway was second behind the Cofidis rider, about two-and-a-half minutes back, with Bernhard Eisel of Austria third. French rider Remi Pauriol retained the overall lead.

"I've never managed to take off alone in a really long break like that and stay away to the finish," an exhausted Chavanel said afterwards.

"When I first attacked, taking two or three riders with me would have been better. But come the finish, now I've won, I'm glad I made my break alone from start to finish.

"My great-grandfather is Catalan, and that makes winning here even more special - an added bonus."

A talented all-rounder, Chavanel has now won five races this season, including a stage of Paris-Nice and two prestigious Belgian semi-Classics: the Fleche Brabanconne and the A Traves de Flandres race.

Although Pauriol still leads the race, Spaniard Josep Jufre clawed back bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints to go second just two seconds adrift.

"I'll have to watch Jufre closely," Pauriol said. "The next two days are going to be pretty tense."

STAGE FOUR

French riders continued to dominate the Tour of Catalonia with Pierrick Fedrigo winning the stage and compatriot Remi Pauriol taking over as race leader from another Frenchman, Cyril Dessel.

Bouygues Telecom rider Fedrigo was the fastest of a group of five breakaways at the finish in Asco, outsprinting Russian Alexandre Botcharov and Spaniard Gustavo Cesar.

"It was a tricky finale, but I was able to win thanks to my (Spanish) team mate Xavier Florencio," Fedrigo said.

"Xavier comes from this region, and he knows the last few kilometres like the back of his hand.

"He'd told me before the stage about the ins and outs of the finish, and that made it much easier for me to calculate my strength and stay in contention.

"It was as if I'd already ridden the race route in my head, before I'd done it in reality."

Pauriol, of the Credit Agricole squad, heads the standings after overnight leader Dessel cracked on the final climb of the day, the Alt de Paumeras.

After finishing in the main bunch, Pauriol now has a seven second advantage over Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia, with Slovenian Janez Brajkovic third at eight seconds.

"I never expected Dessel to suffer so badly on the final climb, but it's given me the chance to take over as leader," Pauriol, in his third year as a professional, said.

"Now I want to win this race. We've got a strong enough team to keep my rivals under control, and my morale is on a real high."

STAGE THREE

A dramatic downhill attack by Frenchman Cyril Dessel earned him stage three and the overall lead of the Tour of Catalonia.

The Ag2R Prevoyance rider took off 20 kms from the finish at La Seu D'Urgell to take the stage by 34 seconds from Slovenian Janez Brajkovic. Frenchman Remi Pauriol was third.

Briefly the leader of the Tour de France in 2006, Dessel now has an 18-second advantage overall on Pauriol and 25 on Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia in Catalonia.

Following four tough Pyrenean climbs on Wednesday's 191-km stage from Banyoles, Dessel went clear on a long, dangerous descent to the finish.

"I attacked just after two breakaways (Alexandre Botcharov of Russia and Frenchman Christophe Riblon) had crashed on the last descent," Dessel said.

"At that point of the race, there was a lot of confusion.

But there was a little rise halfway down the descent, and I used it to jump away.

"I went all out for the next four kilometres, and when I looked round and saw nobody had followed me, I realised I could win the stage."

Dessel, whose biggest previous win was the Tour of the Mediterranean in 2006, was not optimistic about his chances of holding the lead.

"Ag2R have a great team here, almost all the riders for the Tour de France are here," the 33-year-old said.

"But there's a lot of mountainous stages left to go. We'll have to take it day by day and see what happens."

STAGE TWO

Overall leader Thor Hushovd of Norway won a second successive stage in the Tour of Catalonia in a bunch sprint.

Austrian Bernhard Eisel was second behind the Credit Agricole rider on the stage from Riudellots de la Selva to Banyoles with Colombian Leonardo Duque finishing third.

Hushoved retained the overall lead having won Monday's opening time trial stage.

STAGE ONE

Heavy showers could not stop Norwegian Thor Hushovd from winning the first stage time trial.

The 30-year-old Credit Agricole rider stopped the clock at four minutes and 37 seconds for the short, highly technical 3.7-km course in Lloret de Mar.

Second behind Hushovd was American George Hincapie, six seconds back. Spanish national time trial champion Jose Ivan Gutierrez took third, at seven seconds.

Hushovd said he had had no problems on the city centre road surfaces made greasy by intermittent heavy rainfall.

"I was lucky because when I started the rain had eased off." Hushovd told reporters.

"But I always seem to do well here. It's the third stage I've won in Catalonia in my career - and my fourth victory this year.

"My tactics were very simple - go all out from start to finish. On a course this short there weren't any other options."

Better known as a sprinter, the multi-talented Hushovd has also won the Tour de France's opening prologue in 2006 and the Paris-Nice prologue earlier this year.

"I'm not a time trial specialist, but short efforts like today's are winnable for me," the 30-year-old said.

"I'm very pleased with this win, but I don't think I can defend this lead for long. There are too many mountainous stages this week.

"But even so I'm glad I did so well here. Catalonia's a very prestigious race."

Reuters