Primoz Roglic underlines Giro d'Italia credentials with emphatic Volta a Catalunya victory
Primoz Roglic produced a stunning solo attack to win the final stage of a closely-contested Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and with it, the overall title.
The Slovenian, who won the Spanish stage race in 2023, rode clear of rivals including home favourite Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates with 20km to go and stayed clear of the chasing bunch to arrive alone at the finish line in Barcelona.
The stage was set for a thrilling battle between Roglic - who rides for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe - and Barcelona-born Ayuso ahead of the seventh and final stage of the race, with the Slovenian just one second behind the 22-year-old after stage six.
'Beautiful, I had great fun here,' a cheerful Roglic said afterwards. 'I'm ready, the legs are ready so I was pretty much enjoying this week.'
The pair traded the leader's jersey twice again at the intermediate sprints on stage seven, with Ayuso storming ahead in search of crucial bonus seconds at the second sprint marker.
But it was Roglic who emerged clearly the stronger as he attacked on the Montjuic climb 20km from the finish line, dropping the Spaniard on the steep gradients and establishing a gap that would never be bridged. The 35-year-old, a four-time Vuelta a Espana winner, appears to be finding his peak form at the perfect time as he builds towards a second tilt at the Giro d'Italia.
He won the corsa rosa in 2023 and appears to have a slim advantage over Ayuso heading into the year's first Grand Tour, where the pair are expected to be the two main contenders.
'I really don't want to do these things [sprints],' Roglic added afterwards. 'I want to decide it on the mountains or on the climbs. But at the end, [it] came down to bonus seconds and fighting till the last stage. At the end I had the legs. Also, after the second bonus sprint, I had no choice - if I wanted to win, I had to do something.'
Ayuso ultimately finished 28 seconds down overall, with his compatriot Enric Mas of Movistar rounding off the podium 53 seconds behind Roglic. There were three Spaniards in the top four as Soudal Quick-Step's Mikel Landa ended the week one second behind Mas.
Ineos Grenadiers ' Laurens de Plus was second over the line in Barcelona, 14 seconds behind Roglic, and sixth overall, with Lennert van Eetvelt of Lotto third on the same time. Ayuso finished 34th, 19 seconds behind the overall winner, as he struggled on the later climbs of the 88km stage.
The race was also a coming-of-age for 19-year-old British talent Matthew Brennan, who won the opening stage, a punchy run into Sant Feliu de Guixols, for his first victory at WorldTour level. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider wore the leader's jersey for the first two days and narrowly missed out on victory in stage two's sprint, finishing second behind compatriot Ethan Vernon, before adding another win on stage five into Amposta.
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