CATALONIA: Tadej Pogacar came out of the blocks fast but not quite fast enough on stage 1 of the Volta Catalunya in Saint Feliu, taking 2nd place in the uphill sprint behind Nick Schultz (Israel Premier Tech) who made a late move at -1km.
UAE Team Emirates led the race for much of the afternoon setting a hard pace on the 173km starting and finishing in Saint Feliu. Joao Almeida and local favourite Marc Soler kept the pace particularly high inside the last 25km making it difficult for any attacks to get away.
Schultz made his move as the road peaked upwards heading under the Flamme Rouge, building a sizable gap which just proved a few centimetres too much for Pogacar who was closing the gap fast.
Pogacar said, ‘I really enjoyed the day to be honest, it was a hard day in the saddle with a good tempo all day and our guys did a great job. I messed it up a bit in the final, I should have tried to close the gap to Schult immediately, but he was strong also and deserved the win after how he attacked in the last k
ilometre. I did a good sprint, and I wanted a win for all the work the team did. Tomorrow on paper looks hard with a tough finish on Vallter 2000. We have a strong team here, and we want to make it hard as possible.’
The race continues tomorrow with a summit finish from Mataro to Vallter 2000 (186km).
Source: Emirates News Agency