photo credits @ Volta a Catalunya
Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) claimed the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya today, after beating Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) in a two-man sprint to the line, as the final two survivors of the day’s breakaway group.
Meanwhile, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) successfully sealed his victory in the overall classification.
Race Highlights
Tsatevich, along with Roglic, succeeded in staying clear of the peloton for the duration of today’s race.
“During this week I was so close to a podium place,” said Tsatevich, who notched four other top 10 stage placings in the seven-day race. “I really wanted to get a good result, because I felt I am strong. I just missed something. Today I was super motivated. I knew my wife Christina would come to the finish for the first time to see me in a WorldTour race, so I wanted to give a nice present to her.
“The entire day I felt good in the break – I did not follow every attack, I just stayed calm and tried to save my energy for the final laps. This tactic worked well, so with two laps to go I saw my chance to attack and I went away with a LottoNL-Jumbo rider. But at the same time I knew Joaquim Rodriguez was 20 seconds behind and I was ready to help him in case he joined us. In the final, I gave my best on the climb and in the sprint.”
Quintana won the general classification seven seconds ahead of Contador, with Dan Martin (Etixx) claiming the last step on the podium, 17 seconds down. The Irishman secured third place on the final stage by taking a single bonus second at an intermediate sprint. That knocked BMC’s Richie Porte down to fourth, one spot ahead of teammate Tejay van Garderen.
“There’s a lot of emotion to have been able to beat my rivals. It gives me confidence that we are working well,” said Quintana, racing for the first time in Europe this season.
Earlier in the race, Chris Froome (Sky), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), and Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) were among those riders who animated the final kilometers of today’s stage, after attempting to ride clear on several occasions over the Montjüic.
At one point, Joaquin Rodríguez spent a short time out from with a trio of other riders, but they were eventually reeled back in.
Tsatevich and Roglic would remain outside of the clutches of the peloton for the duration of today’s stage, with the Russian rider out-matching his rival in a final dash for the line.
Stage 7 Results RUS 1 TCATEVICH, Aleksei (KATUSHA) 3:13:33 SLO 2 ROGLIC, Primož (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) COL 3 PANTANO GOMEZ, Jarlinson (IAM CYCLING) + 14 NED 4 POELS, Wouter (SKY) RSA 5 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GreenEDGE) COL 6 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (CANNONDALE) FRA 7 MOLARD, Rudy (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) FRA 8 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ITA 9 GASPAROTTO, Enrico (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) ESP 10 BARBERO CUESTA, Carlos (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) ERI 11 KUDUS GHEBREMEDHIN, Merhawi (DIMENSION DATA) EST 12 KANGERT, Tanel (ASTANA) ITA 13 FORMOLO, Davide (CANNONDALE) IRL 14 MARTIN, Daniel (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) BEL 15 ARMEE, Sander (LOTTO SOUDAL) CAN 16 WOODS, Michael (CANNONDALE) ITA 17 REBELLIN, Davide (CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE) AUT 18 PREIDLER, Georg (GIANT – ALPECIN) GBR 19 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) COL 20 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) AUS 21 PORTE, Richie (BMC RACING) ITA 22 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ESP 23 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) RUS 24 ZAKARIN, Ilnur (KATUSHA) GBR 25 CARTHY, Hugh (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) ESP 26 NAVARRO GARCIA, Daniel (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) ESP 27 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF) USA 28 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) ESP 29 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) BEL 30 VERVAEKE, Louis (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 23
Final General Classification COL 1 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) 30:50:19 ESP 2 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF) + 7 IRL 3 MARTIN, Daniel (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 17 AUS 4 PORTE, Richie (BMC RACING) USA 5 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 27 FRA 6 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 31 RUS 7 ZAKARIN, Ilnur (KATUSHA) + 42 GBR 8 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 46 GBR 9 CARTHY, Hugh (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 1:01 COL 10 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (CANNONDALE) + 1:16 ESP 11 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 1:22 ESP 12 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) + 1:33 ESP 13 NAVARRO GARCIA, Daniel (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) + 1:39 ITA 14 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) + 1:41 ITA 15 FORMOLO, Davide (CANNONDALE) + 1:45 COL 16 PANTANO GOMEZ, Jarlinson (IAM CYCLING) + 1:52 ITA 17 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:53 CAN 18 WOODS, Michael (CANNONDALE) + 1:56 EST 19 KANGERT, Tanel (ASTANA) + 2:06 BEL 20 VERVAEKE, Louis (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 2:12 ERI 21 KUDUS GHEBREMEDHIN, Merhawi (DIMENSION DATA) + 2:23 FRA 22 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT – ALPECIN) + 2:46 COL 23 ANACONA GOMEZ, Winner (MOVISTAR) + 3:20 ESP 24 MOLINA, Antonio (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 4:08 BEL 25 DE CLERCQ, Bart (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 4:28 NED 26 GESINK, Robert (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) + 4:55 ESP 27 VERONA QUINTANILLA, Carlos (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 5:11 SUI 28 FRANK, Mathias (IAM CYCLING) + 5:17 ESP 29 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) + 5:31 ESP 30 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (TREK – SEGAFREDO) + 5:44
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