Davide Formolo (BORA – hansgrohe) soloed to an epic win on the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya today as Miguel Ángel López (Astana Pro Team) hung on to win the race overall.
The race travelled to Barcelona for the final stage of the race with the riders facing a 143-kilometre course to the traditional Montjuic circuit. They tackled the two-kilometre-long climb with a gradient of 5 % eight times, with the last of the ascents inside the final five kilometres.
Davide Formolo went into the early break of the day, joined by ten other riders. The escapees led the peloton by more than three minutes, as the group worked well together. On the first of the final laps, Formolo decided to give it a go and distanced himself from his breakaway companions with more than 40 kilometres to go.
With three laps to go, the Yates brothers attacked from a diminished first group and for a time, Adam Yates Mitchelton-Scott) was virtual leader, but he was unable to catch up with Formolo who was still in front by a minute.
When Adam Yates was caught on the final lap, Enric Mas (Deceuninck – Quick Step) and Max Schachmann (BORA – hansgrohe) attacked, but were unable to catch Davide Formolo who took the win. Despite the challenge from Adam Yates, Lopez hung on to take the overall win.
Davide Formolo: “I can’t describe how happy I am. The victory means a lot to me. I went into today’s stage with the goal to be in the breakaway and to try from there to win the stage. On the local laps I thought, now or never, so I just attacked. I pulled so hard, but I knew with 8 km to go that I could make it. The team was great this week, we achieved a lot at this Volta a Catalunya. Now it is time to go home, rest and look forward to the next races.”
