Pogačar, crowned again in Port Ainé
March 20 th 2024 - 19:38 [GMT + 1]
The 103rd edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya has a name, and that is Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). One more day after taking the lead with an exhibition in Vallter, the Slovenian star has added his second consecutive victory in the third stage disputed this Wednesday between Sant Joan de les Abadesses and Port Ainé, where the leader of the Volta has again starred in a new solo triumphal march that highlights him even more from his rivals in the general classification. Basque Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), 2:27 behind, and Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe), 2:55 behind, are his main pursuers.
The third stage of the Volta a Catalunya 2024 presented a very important challenge of high mountains, with a day of 176.7 kilometers of route with departure from Sant Joan de les Abadesses and ascent to first level passes such as Port de Toses (1st category), Port del Cantó (special category) and the final arrival at the resort of Port Ainé, in Pallars Sobirà. A final difficulty of 18.3 kilometers that aimed to be again an important milestone for the resolution of this Volta.
It has been a day of intense battle, marked in its first half by the formation of a breakaway of ten riders with climbers of level as Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek), Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step), Ivan Sosa (Movistar Team) or Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team), the most combative rider of the day after crowning in first place both the Port de Toses and the Port del Cantó. However, the rider has always closely controlled the group with the ambition of the big teams in the general classification, and the pace of the Visma-Lease en Bike team of Sepp Kuss has neutralized the group on the ramps of the never-ending Port del Cantó.
Everything was ready for the face to face between the big favorites for the victory of the Volta a Catalunya on the ramps of Port Ainé. A fight that proved to have a name of its own. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), wearing the leader's jersey won the previous day in Vallter, counterattacked a move by Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) 7.5 kilometers from the top of the Pallaresan resort and began his triumphal cavalcade to the finish line in Port Ainé, where he entered as a solo winner with 48 seconds ahead of Landa, his main pursuer. At 1:03, a group with Antonio Tiberi, Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease en Bike) came in, and at 1:10, a second group led by Alexander Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe), now third overall.
After these two intense arrivals at the ski resorts of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, the 103rd Volta a Catalunya expects a calmer stage in its fourth day scheduled for Thursday, which will join in a 169-kilometer route the capital of Pallars Sobirà, Sort, and the city of Lleida, which will host again an arrival of the Catalan race 11 years after the last precedent. After these two intense arrivals at the ski resorts of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, the 103rd Volta a Catalunya expects a calmer stage in its fourth day scheduled for Thursday, which will join in a 169-kilometer route the capital of Pallars Sobirà, Sort, and the city of Lleida, which will host again an arrival of the Catalan race 11 years after the last precedent.
