photo credits @ VCaC
Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) became the first leader of this year’s Volta Ciclista a Catalunya today, after securing victory in the opening stage, which started and finished in Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
The French champion, who was in great form after winning a stage in Paris-Nice a few days earlier, managed to outpace Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling) in a spectacular finish, two of the main contenders for the overall victory in the race.
Race Highlights
Today’s 172.7-kilometer route featured the climbs of Alt de Romanyà and Alt de Sant Hilari Sacalm during the first half of the stage, before tackling the explosive final section in Tossa de Mar, followed by the demanding stretch of the Carretera de Girona.
Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), who dominated the day’s points classifications and was awarded the prize for the most combative rider of the day, along with brothers Hugo Aznar (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Unai Aznar (Euskaltel-Euskadi), as well as Josh-Burnet and Tyler Stites (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) formed the day’s only breakaway group, which never managed to open up a gap of more than four minutes.
Meanwhile, teams such as NSN Cycling Team, Bahrain Victorious and Ineos Grenadiers worked closely to reduce the group’s advantage, with Burnett being the last rider to eventually get reined in with 11 kilometers to go.
From there, Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease en Bike) sought to control the pace during the final kilometers, until Godon made his winning move during the last kilometer, emerging victorious from a very long sprint against the main contenders to seize the stage honors.
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