Tadej Pogačar sealed a memorable GC victory at the Volta a Catalunya, taking his fourth stage victory on the arrival at Montjuic.
The Slovenian rider prevailed also in the final stage of the World Tour race in a reduced sprint, preceding Dorian Godon (Decathlon Ag2r) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), and he won the general classification with 3’41” on Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick Step) and 5’03” on Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).
The six laps on the hill of Montjuic encouraged several attempts of attack, also by UAE Team Emirates’ cyclists, such as Pavel Sivakov, Tadej Pogačar, Marc Soler and Joao Almeida. The Portuguese rider accelerated at 3 km to go, but his advantage on the chasing group was not enough for reaching the arrival and so his attempt was neutralized in the final kilometer.
In the sprint, Pogačar chose the left side of the road and completed a winning powerful move.
The seasonal victory tally for the Emirati team is now 19.
Pogačar: “Today we had a different plan, we tried to win with Marc Soler, but maybe he went a little bit too early when he decided to attack on the first lap and despite his top effort he could not achieve the big goal. Then in the final Almeida almost succeed in going clear for the victory and I just saved my legs in case his attempt was neutralized and the stage ended in a sprint.
I’m super happy to have taken another victory, which is a reward for the perfect performance by the whole team, we always had a man in the front in the key moments.
To start the season like this it’s fantastic, this week had been very good for the team and for me, I performed well on the many climbs of the race and it gives me a lot of confidence especially because my shape is ok and I’m on the proper path to the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
I feel good, I’m training well and so I can ride my bike everyday with the smile on my face”.
Stage 7 results
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 3h15’23”
2. Dorian Godon (Decathlon Ag2r) s.t.
3. Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) s.t.
Final classification
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 28h21’29”
2. Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick Step) +3’41”
3. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +5’03”
