Maximilian Schachmann (BORA – hansgrohe) soloed to an incredible victory on the fifth stage of the Volta a Catalunya from Puigcerda to Sant Cugat del Valles, adding to his win earlier this month at GP Industria & Artigianato.
After two tough mountain stages, the fifth stage offered only one categorised climb, which was right after the start of the 188 km route. Max Schachmann went on the attack together with three other riders and enjoyed a two minutes lead over the peloton. The group worked well together, and Schachmann collected all the intermediate sprints on the demanding course.
With 20 kilometres to go, the leading group still an advantage of one minute. Approaching the final 10 kilometres, Schachmann launched a well-timed attack on one of the final descents and distanced himself from his former breakaway opponents.
With a lead of just 40 seconds Schachmann gave it his all to maintain his lead. While his former breakaway colleagues were caught by the peloton, the young German rider was able to hold off a flying bunch in a thrilling finale. Schachmann took the win thirteen seconds ahead of Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Ryan Gibbons (Team Dimension Data). As a consequence, Schachmann now leads the points classification, 6 points ahead of Matthews. Miguel Ángel López (Astana Pro Team) retained the leader’s jersey.
Maximilian Schachmann – “I knew, I am in a really good shape, therefore I wanted to achieve another stage victory at the Volta a Catalunya. After a second and fourth place, I knew I had to try it again, because there are not so many stages left. As the group attacked I joined them and with 20k to go, I thought, that we’ll have a good chance to make it to the finish. On the descent I attacked and just pulled to give it everything. I am so happy with the outcome and that I collected the points to now lead the points classification.”
