Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) went head-to-head for the fourth time this week at the oldest race in the Iberian Peninsula, on the beast of a climb called Le Port (8.4km, 8.8%) – which was tackled at the end of the 176.6km stage five.

Victorious Wednesday atop La Molina, Evenepoel entered the day tied on time at the top of the general classification, and Soudal Quick-Step acted like a team on a mission, pulling the entire stage and bringing back the breakaway on the lower slopes of the special-category ascent. The World Champion waited for the last five kilometers to show his cards, launching a powerful surge that distanced all but one rider, his GC rival.

Remco and Roglic continued together, trading attacks until 300 meters to go, when the Slovenian ramped up the pace and gained a couple of meters and won the stage ahead of Remco, who now finds himself trailing by ten seconds in the standings ahead of the weekend’s two stages.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have countered. I started my sprint early and I think this was a big mistake. It’s not the end of the world, on the contrary, a valuable lesson from which I will learn going into the next races. We’ll continue fighting here, we have two more stages left, and we’ll try to do our best”, said Remco, who remains the best young rider of the race.

Photo credit: ©David Ramos / Getty Images