Volta a Catalunya stage 7: Roglič snags overall, Evenepoel goes down swinging

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) took the overall victory at the Volta a Catalunya as Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) went down swinging and took the final stage win.

Roglič and Evenepoel started the day just 10 seconds apart after a week of battling for the overall top spot, setting up a thrilling final day of racing around the Montjuïc circuit in Barcelona.

Evenepoel went down swinging and he did everything he could to shake off Roglič in the final stage into Barcelona, but he could not get him off his wheel and the pair rode into the finale together well clear of everybody else.

While Evenepoel had the better of Roglič in the sprint, the bonus seconds would not be enough to overhaul the gap. Roglič took the overall win by just six seconds over Evenepoel.

“I’m super happy, it was a tough one. It was going to be really hard to drop Primož on a course like this,” Evenepoel said after the stage. “We proved that we were the strongest again. My team took a lot of responsibility since the start and also on the laps so I think we deserved this one. It was a nice battle with Primož and I’m happy that I could beat him in a sprint.”

The pair, who had spent the whole week close to each other, went clear of the rest of the peloton with just under 30 kilometers to go as the Belgian turned up the pressure on a climb. The move quickly brought back the remnants of the day’s earlier breakaway.

Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) was initially able to go with the duo, but he would eventually be dropped over a subsequent climb. UAE clearly wasn’t happy with Soler up the road and his teammate João Almeida pushed the pace behind and almost brought the Spaniard back.

Almeida and Soler started the day in third and fourth overall respectively with a 43-second gap between them.

Evenepoel and Roglič rode through the final kilometers together with the Soudal Quick-Step rider accepting that he wasn’t going to drop his rival and waiting for the sprint. Evenepoel easily took the sprint in the end with Roglič rolling across the line for second.

Soler held on to take third on the day, but Almeida would keep his overall podium finish.

Stage 6: Groves again after Evenepoel tries to surprise Roglič, Bernal crashes out

Kaden Groves (Alpecin Deceuninck) kicked to his second victory this week after Remco Evenepoel tried to sprint into the time bonuses in the penultimate stage at the Volta a Catalunya.

That came after Evenepoel tried to blow up the race with an attack with about 15km to go. Overnight leader Primož Roglič marked his wheel but did not cooperate.

They were reeled in to set up the mass kick to the line, but there was another surprise.

Groves bested Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) again, but Evenepoel was in the mix on the high-speed dash to the line.

A day losing valuable seconds to Roglič in Friday’s HC summit finale to Lo Port, Evenepoel was elbowing his way to the line in a quest for finish-line seconds.

Evenepoel kicked to fifth out of the bonuses, and Roglič followed his wheel with ninth.

The pair is divided by 10 seconds going into Sunday’s circuit course finale at the Montjuic hilltop finale, so nothing is decided yet.

Unfortunately, @EganBernal has abandoned #VoltaCatalunya102 after a crash on stage 5.

An update will be provided in due course. pic.twitter.com/Y7m7LwT1U5

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) March 25, 2023

Egan Bernal crashed out of the race early in Saturday’s stage in another setback for the 2019 Tour de France winner who was making his first WorldTour start since finishing the 2021 Vuelta a España.

There were no immediate details from Ineos Grenadiers, but Bernal entered the race after coming off a knee injury that delayed his European debut. It’s uncertain when he will race next.

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Stage 5: Primož Roglič outkicks Remco Evenepoel on Lo Port finale

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) outsprinted Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) to win the summit finish on stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya and extend his race lead.

Roglič and Evenepoel went into the final meters of the stage together, having dropped João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) a the final kilometer.

Evenepoel decided to strike out first and went for a long sprint to the line. The Belgian initially distanced Roglič, but the Slovenian brought him back before launching his own move on the line.

Roglič’s sprint was enough to put six seconds into Evenepoel, plus the bonus seconds he earned on the line. Having gone into the day on the same time as Evenepoel in the overall classification, Roglič now leads it by 10 seconds.

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Stage 4: Kaden Groves finds his groove for first win in 2023

Kaden Groves kicked to his first victory in his new Alpecin-Deceuninck jersey in stage 4 at the Volta a Catalunya.

A short respite from what’s turning out to be a tense GC battle between Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), the bunch barreled into the finish with a sprint in the cards.

Grooves had the legs to fend off Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), who opened the action in what’s been the first stage so far suited for the fast men in the bunch. Corbin Strong (Israel Premier Tech) came through third.

“It has been a tough year so far,” Groves said. “To get a win is a fantastic feeling, certainly after the hard work the team did today. A massive ride from them.”

A five-rider breakaway almost disrupted the script and hung on until less than 5km to go.

The Volta gets steep again Friday with what should see some significant time gaps at the top of the GC. The stage ends with an hors-categorie summit at 8.6k at 8.8% finale.

Roglič and Evenepoel remained tied at the top of the GC, but it’s all but certain they won’t be tied by the end of Friday’s climb.

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Stage 3: Evenepoel gaps Roglič in ‘queen stage’ with GC now a tie

Remco Evenepoel gapped Primož Roglič with a well-timed surge with about 300m to go to win Wednesday’s “queen stage” high the Catalan Pyrénées.

In another scintillating preview of the Giro d’Italia, the world champion distanced Roglič, but the Jumbo-Visma captain kept the leader’s jersey in what’s now a tie three days into the Volta a Catalunya.

Soudal Quick-Step made it hard over an hors-categorie climb midway through the stage that spit out the likes of Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal.

“I knew I had super legs today and my team did a great job to make it hard over the climb,” Evenepoel said. “I made a mistake the other day, so it’s nice to win today. I knew coming here I was feeling good and the team is super.

“Tomorrow we will take control to make sure that it ends in a sprint,” he said. “We will see what happens Friday [a climbing stage]. The race isn’t over yet.”

An early break was reeled in with about 10km to go to the summit finale to La Molina.

Evenepoel jumped with 4km to go to distance everyone except the cagey Roglič. When it looked like he had everything under control after marking the wheel for the entire climb, Evenepoel attacked with one searing acceleration to go to catch out Roglič by two seconds at the line.

The pair is now tied at the top of the leaderboard, but Roglič keeps his jersey.

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), a winner Tuesday, kicked to third to retain his podium spot at 13 seconds back to lead the front group of chasers across the line. Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech) was seventh to retain his top-10 overall, and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) rolled in after his job was done at 15th at 29 seconds back.

Thursday’s fourth stage is likely one for the sprinters, with Friday’s climbing stage to set up the next battle between Evenepoel and Roglič.

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Stage 2: Ciccone edges Roglič, Evenepoel in uphill throw down

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) edged out Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel to win atop Vallter 2000 in stage 2 at the Volta a Catalunya.

Esteban Chaves was reeled in with 500m to go in the summit finish, and the Italian came around Evenepoel when the world champion opened up his sprint. Overnight leader Roglič came through second to defend his overall lead.

Evenepoel tried to blow up the race with a pair of brutal attacks in the closing two kilometers, but the upper part of the climb was not steep enough to do real damage.

His attacks drew out Ciccone and overnight leader Roglič, and the trio went to the line with the Italian holding on for the victory.

“This is one of the best victories of my career,” Ciccone said. “I really pulled hard in the last 500m to win. The last few weeks I lost many times, but today was a nice, long climb for me.”

Roglič took more time bonuses with second to remain in the lead, now ahead of Evenepoel and Ciccone tied at six seconds back.

How it happened

The first summit finish came early, and it put the hurt on the bunch.

A nasty crash took down a few riders on the run-in to the base of the final climb, including Trek-Segafredo’s Kenny Elissonde who looked to have a wrist injury.

A four-rider breakaway was reeled in going into the Vallter 2000 summit, with Jumbo-Visma and then Bahrain Victorious setting the tempo until Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) jumped with about 6km to go. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) was out the back due to a mechanical, but fought back to the favorite’s group.

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) shrugged off his high-speed crash in Monday’s opener and ended up fifth on the stage.

“Yesterday was a bad crash, it was super fast, we were going 75kph when the crash happened. Luckily I wasn’t hurt too bad, and the condition is good and now it’s about finding the right moment,” Yates said at the line. “Joao had a few problems with his bike. It’s hard for everything to go perfect, and we hope in the next couple of days we’ll have some luck. Tomorrow is another hard stage. I am looking forward to it.”

Bahrain Victorious riders Jack Haig and Mikel Landa took over at the front as Chaves carved out a 25-second gap with 5km to go. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) tried to follow, but couldn’t match the Colombian’s searing pace.

With 2km to go, Chaves was hanging on with a 25-second lead when the “bigs” started to move out of the GC group.

Evenepoel jumped, with Roglič quick to mark his wheel. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) was trying to close the gap. That shaved Chaves’s lead in half with 1.5km to go.

Evenepoel poured on the gas with 1.2km to go, with only Ciccone and Roglič able to hang on to his vapors, and hit the red flag just 7 seconds behind the Colombian.

Mike Woods (Israel Premier Tech) came in eighth at 15 seconds back, and Kuss crossed the line 15th at 53 seconds.

The seven-day Catalunya tour continues Wednesday with the 180.6km third stage from Lost to La Molina. In what’s the week’s “queen stage,” the course tackles four rated climb, including the HC Coll de la Creueta. The Cat. 1 run to the La Molina summit should see the GC consolidate.

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Stage 1: Primož Roglič nips Remco Evenepoel in thriller

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won a grinding uphill sprint Monday against GC nemesis Remco Evenpoel (Soudal Quick-Step) to open the Volta a Catalunya.

Evenepoel slammed his fist on his handlebars after Roglič managed to hang on as the two Giro d’Italia-bound stars faced off in the opening stage of the seven-stage Catalunya race.

It was a bit of a surprise to see the two GC favorites sparring so early in the race, but a deceptively rising finale saw them surge to the front.

“I feel great. I am enjoying it,” Roglič said at the line. “Did I expect to win? You always hope for the best, but you have to do it. The guys did a great job, and just had enough in the legs to win. For sure I want to win, and it’s just day one. We still have six stages to go.”

The race marked the European return of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), who finished 32nd at 10 seconds back after the bunch split in the final run to the finish.

The 164.6km opening stage looped up and around Sant Feliu de Guíxols. An early breakaway was reeled in to set up a mass gallop.

Several crashes marred the closing kilometers.

Dario Cataldo (Trek Segafredo) and Michael Storer (Groupama FDJ) were among a few riders who went down hard with less than 10km to go. Cataldo and Maxime Bouet (Team Arkéa Samsic) did not finish.

Another big spill with under 5km took down more riders, with GC contender Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) reportedly involved.

The 102nd Volta continues Tuesday with the 165.4km second stage from Mataró to Vallter. The summit finale will put the big GC stars to their first test.

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