Adam Yates on Sunday won the Volta a Catalunya, with teammates Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas completing an all Team Ineos Grenadiers podium at the summit of Barcelona’s Montjuic.
The trio held on to the first three places, despite efforts to dislodge them in the 133km closing stage across Barcelona, principally by home favorite Team Movistar rider Alejandro Valverde.
Yates topped the general classification, with Porte in second at 45 seconds and Thomas in third at 49 seconds.
Photo: AFP
“It was the perfect team performance,” Yates said after the successful finish, his first big race with the team he joined in January.
“A Grenadier for each step, but an incredible team effort from all our riders and staff to back them up,” a team statement said.
Australia’s Porte was bouncing back from a bad fall, but the man who came third on the Tour de France appears primed for a big season.
The performance of Thomas also bodes well for his season, as he struggled to stay healthy last year.
Unable to break the status quo over the final six circuits of the category 2 Montjuic climb, Spain’s Valverde had to settle for fourth place, 1 minute, 3 seconds behind.
Team BikeExchange Esteban Chaves won the points jersey and the mountain jersey, while Team Deceuninck Quick-Step rider Joao Almeida of Portugal was best young rider.
Belgian Thomas De Gendt, riding for Team Lotto-Soudal, claimed the seventh stage, coming home alone, 22 seconds clear of Matej Mohoric.
De Gendt was part of a breakaway at the foot of the category 3 Creu d’Ordal climb, before going it alone with Slovenia’s Mohoric on the last lap of Montjuic.
In third on the day came Hungarian Attila Valter, the Team Groupama-FDJ rider crossing the line 1 minute, 42 seconds back.
It was Yate’s first victory since the UAE Tour in February last year, but he improved his performance in the Volta a Catalunya, after finishing runner-up in 2019.
GENT-WEVELGEM
AFP, WEVELGEM, Belgium
Team Jumbo-Visma rider Wout van Aert, the home favorite, won an eventful Gent-Wevelgem cycling classic in Belgium on Sunday, edging Italian pair Giacomo Nizzolo and Matteo Trentin.
The 26-year-old, who won the Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche classics last year, came second in the Tirreno-Adriatico this year and has emerged as a major force in the sport.
“This victory counts so much to me, it being my first home road race win,” Van Aert said.
Nizzolo was gracious in defeat.
“I can’t be too upset because, well, the best man won today,” he said.
Two teams had to pull out of the 247.5km race due to positive COVID-19 tests, while a mid-race fire near the finish line also saw organizers scramble to reroute the closing kilometers.
“We were all a bit lost with the reroute, but the organizers were right to reroute,” Nizzolo said. “You can’t say it changed the outcome.”
Irish rider Sam Bennett put in a brave attempt, but unexpected winds hampered his efforts along with the tough cobble-strewn and hill-laden run through Flanders.
Van Aert had teammate Nathan van Hooydonck (seventh place) with him in a long range 20-man breakaway that gradually whittled down on a fast and tough race.
“We were able to launch early enough. Everything went perfect and nobody came past,” said Van Aert, who ran out of steam at the last classic he raced, the Milan-San Remo.
“The whole day in the crosswinds — this is a massive effort, but definitely worth it,” said Van Aert, who raised his arms in victory over the cobbled finish line.
“This sets me up nicely and I can go into the Tour of Flanders next week with lots of confidence,” Van Aert added.
A fire at an industrial site along the route almost stopped the race, but organizers were quick to reroute it with the riders just 80km away.
Beaten pre-race favorite Sam Bennett said that he had ruined his recipe for winning by “eating too much.”
The in-form Irish sprinter arrived at the start line with five wins already under his belt this season.
The 30-year-old had won two stages at both the Paris-Nice and the UAE Tour stage races, before storming the Bruges-La Panne classic on Wednesday last week.
However, with 15km still to go until the finish line on Sunday, he suddenly hit a wall, eventually trailing in 55th place behind Wout van Aert.
“I made a stupid mistake. I ate too much,” the rider with Belgium Team Deceuninck Quick-Step told Belga radio.
“I wanted to fill up my reserves of energy as much as possible and I stuffed myself,” last year’s Tour de France sprint king said.
“It wasn’t a great idea,” Bennet added. “The combination of lactic acid and a too full stomach meant I vomited. Then I knew that my legs were spent because I had no energy left. I imploded in the final 15km with my race over.”
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