Brennan repeats and Ayuso takes the lead in Terres de l'Ebre
March 28 th 2025 - 17:40 [GMT + 1]
(Amposta, 28-03-2025) - The 104th edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya has lived an exciting day in its 5th stage, which had a route of 165.9 kilometres through the Terres de l'Ebre with departure from Paüls and arrival in the city of Amposta. The young British rider Matthew Brennan (Team Visma-Lease en Bike), the first leader in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, managed to take a second stage victory in a reduced sprint after a nervous day, in which Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) regained the lead from Primoz Roglic in a stage that is expected to be decisive in Berguedà.
146 cyclists took the start of the 5th stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Friday 28th March, ready to face one of the stages with less positive gradient of this edition, which crossed the four regions of Terres de l'Ebre, but which was expected to be nervous due to the presence of the wind in Terres de l'Ebre. Seven cyclists were the protagonists of the breakaway of the day, formed before overcoming the only pass of the day, the Coll de la Font (3rd category, km 18.9 of the stage).
There was Jan Castellón (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), who repeated his adventure of the first stage, along with Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale, leader of the mountains classification, Michael Leonard (INEOS Grenadiers), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ), Mats Wenzel (Team Kern Pharma), and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Finally, the most outstanding riders were Frenchman Enzo Paleni, who held on alone until the last 20 kilometres of the stage, and Basque rider Jokin Murguialday, winner of the prize for the most combative rider of the day, but they had no chance of challenging for the stage victory due to the push of the group of favourites.
At the intermediate sprint at L'Aldea, 25 kilometres from the finish line, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) made a key move by gaining a second bonus that put him provisionally ahead in the general classification over Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who had torn him away yesterday. From then on, the approach to the end of the stage in Amposta has been disputed with a lot of tension due to the threat of the fans, causing a reduced group of only 30 cyclists to play for the victory in the capital of Montsià. Finally, the fastest rider was once again Matthew Brennan (Team Visma-Lease en Bike), who after his victory in the opening stage in Sant Feliu de Guíxols has consolidated himself as the great revelation of this Volta a Catalunya with two stage victories at the age of 19.
The sprint has left the favourites without options to dispute more bonuses, allowing Juan Ayuso to overtake Primoz Roglic and become the leader of the Volta a Catalunya before the sixth stage, which is expected to be key in the resolution of the general classification with its 159 kilometres without rest between Berga and the high-altitude finish in Queralt.
