Adam Yates, owner and lord of Vallter 2000
March 24 th 2021 - 19:25
Adam Yates (Ineos-Grenadiers) is the leader of the Volta a Catalunya after winning the third stage, the first meeting with the mountain in a long day of 203 kilometers between the Canal Olímpic de Catalunya and Vallter 2000/Setcases (Vall de Camprodon).
The British, who had already done a great time trial the day before in Banyoles, has once again dominated the ascent to the ski resort where he had already won in 2019 and is postulating himself as a great candidate for the overall ranking of the race. The day began with the breakaway of Kiko Galván (Kern Pharma), Alexander Kamp (Trek-Segafredo), Sean Bennett, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Team Qhubeka-Assos), Clément Venturini (Ag2r Citroën), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Colin Joyce (Rally Cycling), Alexander Evans (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and the young Dutchman Thymen Arensman (Team DSM), who has ended up being the one who has most resisted the ramps of the final port.
Antonio Jesús Soto (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was left on the verge of being part of the escaped group, suffering an inopportune puncture when the group still did not have a minute on the pilot. With no mountain difficulties before the end, the leader's group relaxed and let go of the leading group to a margin of 12 minutes which placed the Catalan Galván as a virtual leader for much of the stage, with the final booty of the combativeness prize.
The four minutes with which they arrived at the begin of the port thanks to the push of powerful teams like Ineos-Grenadiers, Jumbo-Visma or Deceuninck-Quick Step of the leader Joao Almeida already made think that the triumph was thing of the great favorites to win the Volta, and so it has been.
A brave Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) made one of the first moves 8 kilometers from the finish line, which made him end up joining another former winner like Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) 5 kilometers from the finish. It was then that Yates decided it was time to change the pace, first followed by Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), until he ended up leaving all his wheel rivals in the beautiful last 2000 meters of Vallter 2000. to end up raising his arms alone with 13 and 19 seconds on some amazing Esteban Chaves (Team BikeExchange) and Valverde, who at 40 is still fighting with the best cyclists in the world.
In this way, Adam Yates dresses as a leader in a very favorable situation for his team Ineos-Grenadiers: Richie Porte (2nd place at 45 seconds) and Geraint Thomas (4th place at 53) listen to the British in the fight for victory final, demonstrating the potential of the squad presented at the start of Calella to fight for the Volta 100.
