photo credits @ Volta
Primoz Roglic took an emphatic victory in the 7th and final stage of the Volta a Catalunya today, sealing the general classification for the race for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
The Slovenian’s dominance on the streets of Barcelona saw him cross the line 14 seconds ahead of Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto), who rounded off the podium and secured himself the jersey in the overall standings, points and mountain classifications.
Previous leader and UAE Emirates XRG’s Juan Ayuso struggled on the final day which meant Roglic finished the multi-stage event 28 seconds ahead of the Spanish rider with Movistar’s Enric Mas trailing 53 seconds in the general classification.
A thrilling battle for bonus seconds at the day’s two intermediate sprints preceded the fight for the stage, with Roglič and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) exchanging the leader’s jersey twice, but Ayuso was unable to match Roglic’s superior tempo following his attack and was forced to relinquish his leader’s jersey on the final day of the race.
Earlier, 139 riders took the start of the final stage, an explosive route of 88.2 kilometers with start and finish in Barcelona and the six passes over the Alt del Castell de Montjuïc (2nd category).
However, the battle started from the first signs of the stage with the fight for the bonus seconds. Roglic struck first by leading the intermediate sprint in Viladecans, while Ayuso hit back by winning the second intermediate sprint, which was contested at the first crossing of the finish line in Barcelona.
Everything was still at stake with six laps to go on the Montjuïc circuit, where Roglic went on the attack with three laps to go, gaining a slight advantage on the hardest slopes of the climb to the Castell de la Castell in the Catalan capital.
From there, he continued to extend until the finish line, crossing 14 seconds ahead of De Plus and Van Eetvelt and 19 others from a select group of favorites, which included Ayuso, who was unable to respond to the Slovenian’s offensive.
