No problem for Marianne Vos in the last stage of the first edition of Back to Catalunyawhich ended today with a sprint to Barcelona. There is immediately a very illustrious signature in the roll of honor of a race which, for being a 2.1, attracted a good participation. The final victory was already safe, but the champion of Team Visma Lease a Bike would have liked to finish with a success in the last stage too, but as in the first stage she was beaten by Ally Wollaston.
The New Zealander’s AG Insurance-Soudal Team he confirms himself again in the sprint in the presence of a superstar like Vos, taking his second stage victory. Marianne can largely console herself with the general classification, climbing onto the podium with her partner Riejanne Markus.
Volta a Catalunya 2024, the news of the last stage
Last stage short (86.6 kilometres) and generally favorable to fast wheels, after the general classification was outlined yesterday on the La Molina climb. After a few kilometers from the departure of Molins de Rei he takes advantage alone Leonie Laubig (Primeau Vélo-Groupe Abadie). The twenty-seven year old German arrives with a good advantage at the foot of the first of the two categorized climbs, the Alt de Els Casots (4.2 km at 5.6%), but she starts to increase the pace from behind.
Not only Team Visma LAB, which has no particular pressure in managing the advantage accumulated in the standings, but also Liv AlUla Jayco And AG Insurance-Soudal they contribute to the chase, and Laubig is caught already on the climb. At the top of the hill it passes first Justine Ghekiere, which thus certifies first place in the climbers’ ranking. Behind the Belgian from AG Insurance is Riejanne Markus, who after the climb tries to continue the action and shuffle the cards. However, he carries himself to her wheel Kim LeCourt (AG Insurance), from which he receives no cooperation.
On the Alt de Begues, the last gpm of this edition, the only one to manage to gain a few meters and maintain it is Aileen Schweikart (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi). The German leaves 26 kilometers from the finish and gains about twenty seconds on the group, but after the descent there are almost twenty flat kilometers towards Barcelona which favors the chase.
Adegeest tries downhill, but is flown to Barcelona
However, there is still room for an attack Loes Adegeest (FDJ-Suez), which takes the descent at full speed and takes the lead alone. It’s once again AG Insurance’s turn to lead the chase, seeking their second sprint victory with Wollaston.
Adegeest was caught only two kilometers from the finish line, by a group that was still quite large and with several compact teams preparing the ground for their respective sprinters. A fairly technical finale on the streets of the Catalan capital, where it is the Movistar to take command of operations in the last kilometer to pilot Arlenis Sierra. The Cuban champion launches her sprint from the best position, but she does not have the same speed as Vos and Wollaston, who follow in her wake and they play for victory on the edge of centimeters. The New Zealander has the upper hand, as in Manresa she has a better pedal stroke at the finish line.
Sierra is ultimately fourth also behind Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez), with the two reversing positions compared to the first sprint. The final podium remains unchanged, with Vos further ahead thanks to the bonuses and leading Markus by 1’06” and Markus by 1’14” Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility). Solbjork Minke Anderson she keeps the white jersey but slips to fifth place, overtaken by Le Court with bonuses at the flying finish line. Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team) is the only Italian in the top ten, eighth.
