Volta a Catalunya: Joy for Evenepoel on La Molina

Volta a Catalunya: Joy for Evenepoel on La Molina

Remco Evenepoel became the youngest Belgian in 37 years to win a Volta a Catalunya stage, at the end of a day that saw his Soudal Quick-Step teammates destroy the peloton and control the race in spectacular fashion, before setting up the World Champion for the last kilometers of La Molina – one of the race’s traditional finishes.

“I am very happy about this win, and at the same time, proud of my teammates! They showed what a strong squad we are, did a magnificent job the entire day, and I am delighted that it all paid off”, a visibly satisfied Remco said immediately after the stage.

The day was a rather quiet one, following the traditional script of a group going clear soon after the start, until the first ramps of Coll de la Creueta, where Soudal Quick-Step stormed to the front of the field. The furious tempo pushed by our riders visibly whittled down the bunch, leaving only some 30-odd men in there by the time the special-category climb was crested.

Our guys continued to work tirelessly at the front, both in the downhill and on the first part of the last ascent, where Ilan Van Wilder drove the tempo with Remco behind him. Evenepoel then put the hammer down on a short steep section with five kilometers to go, just before a descent, bolting away from the group and dispatching everyone, except Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).

Exuding fantastic confidence, the 23-year-old relentlessly pushed hard going under the red kite and had the final say, launching a huge out-of-the-saddle acceleration in the final hairpin bend that not only landed him the victory, but also put him on the same time with the overall leader.

“It’s amazing! I had good legs, I felt that I was getting better and better and had a lot of trust in my team. I knew they were capable of making the race as hard as possible from the penultimate climb and that’s what they did, following our plan. In the finale, I knew that I was fast and really wanted to go for it, so I made sure of being first into the last corner and kept pushing. It’s a victory that makes me happy and only adds to our motivation for the next stages”, Evenepoel concluded after signing off Soudal Quick-Step’s 15th win of the season.

 

Photo credit: ©David Ramos / Getty Images

Race details

1 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step
4:40:43
2 Primož Roglič
Jumbo-Visma
0:02
3 Giulio Ciccone
Trek - Segafredo
0:13
4 Jai Hindley
BORA - hansgrohe
0:13
5 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
0:13
6 Mikel Landa Meana
Bahrain - Victorious
0:13
7 Michael Woods
Israel - Premier Tech
0:13
8 Cian Uijtdebroeks
BORA - hansgrohe
0:13
9 Esteban Chaves Rubio
EF Education-EasyPost
0:13
10 Romain Bardet
Team DSM
0:13
29 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step
2:55
36 Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step
7:06
47 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step
8:26
65 Fausto Masnada
Soudal - Quick Step
12:52
66 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step
13:43
101 Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step
19:01
1 Primož Roglič
Jumbo-Visma
12:42:17
2 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step
0:00
3 Giulio Ciccone
Trek - Segafredo
0:19
4 Mikel Landa Meana
Bahrain - Victorious
0:44
5 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
0:44
6 Jai Hindley
BORA - hansgrohe
0:48
7 Michael Woods
Israel - Premier Tech
0:48
8 Esteban Chaves Rubio
EF Education-EasyPost
0:48
9 Cian Uijtdebroeks
BORA - hansgrohe
0:58
10 Marc Soler Giménez
UAE Team Emirates
1:12
25 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step
4:34
50 Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step
15:33
56 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step
17:36
63 Fausto Masnada
Soudal - Quick Step
21:16
68 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step
22:44
108 Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step
36:23
1 Primož Roglič
Jumbo-Visma
22 pt
2 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step
20 pt
3 Giulio Ciccone
Trek - Segafredo
14 pt
4 Simone Petilli
Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
8 pt
5 Rune Herregodts
Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
4 pt
6 Guillaume Martin
Cofidis
4 pt
7 Ide Schelling
BORA - hansgrohe
4 pt
8 Jetse Bol
Burgos-BH
4 pt
9 Richard Carapaz Montenegro
EF Education-EasyPost
3 pt
10 Oscar Onley
Team DSM
3 pt
1 Simone Petilli
Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
37 pt
2 Guillaume Martin
Cofidis
34 pt
3 Giulio Ciccone
Trek - Segafredo
32 pt
4 Primož Roglič
Jumbo-Visma
28 pt
5 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step
26 pt
6 Maxim Van Gils
Lotto Dstny
20 pt
7 Richard Carapaz Montenegro
EF Education-EasyPost
18 pt
8 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
16 pt
9 Mikel Landa Meana
Bahrain - Victorious
15 pt
10 João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates
12 pt
13 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step
10 pt
1 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step
12:42:17
2 Cian Uijtdebroeks
BORA - hansgrohe
0:58
3 Lenny Martinez
Groupama - FDJ
2:19
4 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
2:24
5 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step
4:34
6 Oscar Onley
Team DSM
13:04
7 Hugo Toumire
Cofidis
15:40
8 Matthew Riccitello
Israel - Premier Tech
16:52
9 Raúl García Pierna
Equipo Kern Pharma
22:05
10 Finn Fisher-Black
UAE Team Emirates
25:18
1 UAE Team Emirates 38:10:22
2 EF Education-EasyPost 4:13
3 Movistar Team 5:39
4 BORA - hansgrohe 5:54
5 Bahrain - Victorious 8:47
6 AG2R Citroën Team 11:59
7 Soudal - Quick Step 16:19
8 Jumbo-Visma 16:54
9 Cofidis 18:53
10 Intermarché - Circus - Wanty 23:06

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