Everyone expected that in the first summit finish of this Volta a Catalunya, in Vallter, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel would offer another face to face in what is presumed to be the great battle of the race and of the next Giro d’Italia. But in the tough final at more than 2,000 meters of altitude, an unexpected man, the Italian Giulio Ciccone, slipped into the party of favorites. The Trek rider withstood all the attacks from Evenepoel, the locomotive that guided the peloton to the finish line and in the last few meters he was faster than Roglic, who will maintain the lead with six seconds ahead of the Belgian from Soudal and the Italian himself.
A week ago, in the Tirreno-Adriatico, Giulio Ciccone (Trek) had the scare of his life when the race management car ran over him, without consequences for him, while he was having an interview. Yesterday, the Trek experienced the hardest moment of the season after the fall of Dario Cataldo. The 38-year-old Italian left the Volta with a fractured femur and hip and practically said goodbye to cycling. That’s why Ciccone, teary-eyed at the finish line, dedicated one of his most important wins of his career to his Trek partner.
The fireworks came very soon in the third oldest stage race in cycling. If the first day there was already a skirmish, yesterday was a real pitched battle. The day should have served to see the state of the favorites and the long list of applicants who accompany them and if something became clear, it is that the most ambitious is Evenepoel. The Belgian was the strongest and the most determined. Roglic hid again until the last meters and was close to winning again. The positive news for the Spanish was the good performance of Mikel Landa, protagonist in the final ascent.
From Mataró to Setcases. From Maresme to Ripollés. 165.5 kilometers in a constant ascent, with an intermediate ascent to the first-category Coll de Coubet and with the final stretch of Vallter, at an altitude of 2,135 metres. A special category climb of 11.4 kilometers with an average slope of 7.6% and ramps of up to 18% in which to fight for victory.
The initial leadership was for a group of eight cyclists made up of Carr (EF), Petilli (Intermarché), Galván (Kern Pharma), Azparren (Euskaltel), Amezqueta (Caja Rural), Barré (Arkéa), Juul-jensen (Jayco) and Pronskiy (Astana) and who came to have advantages close to four minutes. As the road hardened and Jumbo took command, the distance narrowed. The forecasts came true and at the foot of the pass the distance was already less than a minute, clearly acceptable for the favourites. The British Simon Carr was the only one who held on alone, while in the peloton Bahrain took the lead to prepare the ground for Mikel Landa.
The first to attack, with 6.5 km to go, was the Colombian Esteban Chaves (Education First), who achieved an advantage of up to 35 seconds. Nobody moved in the group of favorites until Landa, 2 from the finish line, tried a movement that would trigger the final battle. Evenepoel attacked with force and only Ciccone and Roglic had the strength to follow his wheel. But the Belgian wanted to manage the effort and gave options to other rivals, until when he crossed the banner of the last kilometer he attacked again to end the hopes of Colombian Chaves.
Evenepoel’s effort was used by his greatest rivals to overtake him at the finish line, although this time it was not Roglic, but a hyper-motivated Ciccone who managed the feat of overtaking the two ocean liners in this race.
