Roglic won the first battle against Evenepoel at the Volta with a spectacular finish

Roglic 1, Evenepoel 0. The two big favorites for the overall success of 102nd edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya have shown their cards first hand, in the denouement of a tense and entertaining first stage, of 164.6 kilometers, starting and ending in the town of Girona of Sant Feliu de Guixols, with four climbs to the crown and a stinging final sprint that fit Roglic like a glove.

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In a Volta marked by hardness and with very few days of competition there are no transition stages and every second counts, a racing strategy that has already been seen in this first act of the Catalan round. So, after the first attacks of the day, the flight of five runners was configured –Herregodts, De Marchi, Onley, Bol and Miquel-, from which the first king of the mountain, the Dutch from Burgos-BH Jetse Bol.

From behind, the teams of favorites controlled the escape until they decided to activate the hunting mode, which began to bear fruit nine kilometers from the finish line. At this point the peloton is already stretched, after the last work of a Jumbo-Visma that he did not hide his cards thinking about Primoz Roglic, who was replaced by Soudal Quick-Step of Remco Evenepoel which he didn’t do either.

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The last paragraphs of this first chapter of the Volta are marked by a strong and ugly crash that happened in a wide straight, where he ran at full speed and affected five riders, of which the worst unemployed seemed The Italian Trek-Segafredo Dario Cataldo.

The great names of Volta are not hiding and are preparing to launch their attack in a final upward stretch that they already know after the previous step. roglic He calculates the best moment to launch his attack and sometimes it seems that no one can beat his success, until a tree moves forward to his left. Remco Evenepoel that he saw himself as a winner and that he even came to celebrate the victory.

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so, Roglic is a cousin He achieved his third victory of the season, the 70th of his professional career, and became the first leader of the Volta, waiting for what will happen this Tuesday in first mountain stage ending in Vallter, A good scenario for another duel between Roglic and an Evenepoel who will surely be hurt in their pride after seeing how success has eluded him today.

RANKINGS

1st stage
​1.Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) 3h48’17”
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) id.
3.Ide Schelling (PB/Bora-hansgrohe) id.
4.Maxim Van Gils (Bel/Lotto Dstny) id.
5.Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Trek-Segafredo) id.
6.Ethan Hayter (Gbr/Ineos Grenadiers) id.
7.Dorian Godon (Fra/AG2R Citroën Team) id.
8.Ilan Van Wilder (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) id.
9.Milan Menten (Bel/Lotto Dstny) id.
10. Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis) id.