Van den Berg, the king of speed in Lleida
March 22 nd 2024 - 09:27 [GMT + 1]
Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) was Thursday the winner of the fourth stage of the Volta a Catalunya 2024, resolved in the first great duel of sprinters of the week. The fastest men of the 103rd edition of the Catalan UCI World Tour race have had in this day the first opportunity to show off, with a favorable route between Sort and the city of Lleida, where the Dutchman has beaten Belgian Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty) and Latvian Emils Liepins (Team DSM-firmeninch-PostNL).
The fourth stage of the Volta a Catalunya presented a route of 169 kilometers starting from Sort, the capital of Pallars Sobirà, and finishing in the city of Lleida, which returned to the route of the Volta 11 years after its last visit. A favorable profile with the only mountain difficulty of Port d' Àger, 2nd category, seemed to present a day in which the protagonist would be the fight for the stage.
The stage was marked by a breakaway of three riders: Belgian Thomas De Gendt (Lott-Dstny), an icon of the Volta a Catalunya with five stage wins who is competing in his last edition before retirement, Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma Team) from Navarre, awarded as the most combative rider of the day, and Norwegian Idar Andersen (Uno-X Mobility). The group was neutralized shortly before the last of the three intermediate sprints of the day, located less than 30 kilometers from the finish in Les Borges Blanques, where riders aspiring to the overall as Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease en Bike), Wouter Poels and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) have fought for bonuses, on a day in which Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has comfortably retained its leadership.
Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi) has been the animator in the approach to the finish in Lleida, but the sprinters' teams have given no room for surprises, ready to play for victory in the capital of Segrià, the third venue with the largest presence in the history of the Volta after Barcelona and Manresa, where great fast men of modern history have won before, such as Mario Cipollini or Laurent Jalabert. In this case, the victory went to the young Dutchman Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), who thus added his second victory at World Tour level after the one achieved last season at the Tour of Poland.
This Friday a new day is expected for the stage chasers in the fifth stage of the Volta a Catalunya, which will link Altafulla and Viladecans The Style Outlets in a 167.3 kilometers route with a climb to the Coll de les Ventoses and the Alt de la Creu d'Aragall (2nd category) through leg-breaking terrain of the Penedès and Baix Llobregat where anything can happen.
