Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2017 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

March 20, 2017
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2017 – Stage 1 – Calella – Calella – 178,9 km

The 2017 Volta a Catalunya is a road cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place between 20 and 26 March. It will be the 97th edition of the Volta a Catalunya and will be the ninth event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.

Davide Cimolai (FDJ) claimed a hard-fought sprint victory on the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya. The 27-year-old topped Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) in the bunch sprint, with Kristian Sbaragli third.

It’s the second consecutive year that Cimolai has claimed a stage win in the race, but where as last year’s victory came on stage 6, this year he earned the race’s first leader’s jersey.

“I didn’t know how I would be – two days ago I did Milan-San Remo, a very long race,” a pleased Cimolai said after the finish. “I like so much the racing in Spain for the weather, for the stages and this is my second win in Volta Catalunya and I’m very happy.”

Now leading the overall by four seconds over Bouhanni, Cimolai’s lead is quite tenuous with the 41.3km team time trial coming on Tuesday.

“The object was to win one stage and now I work for the team,” he said. “Tomorrow there is a harder time trial, and I see day by day.”

How it unfolded

On a day with six major climbs, one might have expected the back-to-back category 1 ascents of Alt El Muntanya and Coll Formic to play bigger roles, but there were no major attacks from the climbers as teams chose to save their firepower for the lengthy stage 2 team time trial.

Instead, the peloton simply clicked off a steady tempo to reel in the early escapees – Magno Prado Nazaret and Murilo Affonso (Brasil), Antonio Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac).

The quartet had 40 seconds as they crested the first climb, and before the descent three riders jumped across – Jetse Bol (Manzana Postobon), Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) and Brendan Canty joining his teammate Rolland at the head of the race

Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) also tried to get across, but couldn’t quite make it.

Domont and Bol left the rest behind on the 28km descent, and with 41km to go the pair had built up a lead of more than a minute on the chasing peloton.

But that advantage was chipped away easily by the bunch, who reached the base of the final climb, the Alt de Collsacreu with 25km to go, with the pair of escapees in their sight.

The Collsacreu did very little to disrupt the efforts of the sprinters’ teams, with Lotto Soudal, Cofidis, and Katusha controlling the pace.

The peloton rode together at a high pace until Cyril Gautier (AG2R La Mondiale) had a go with just over 5km to go, but it was a long way to go alone, and he was swept up on an incline with 3km to go.

Peter Kennaugh attacked a descent soon after, tucking low on his top tube, but the voracious pace of the sprint teams put an end to his antics just inside the flamme rouge.

Cofidis led into the sprint, setting up Nacer Bouhanni perfectly, but he was put in front just a touch too soon, and Cimolai caught and narrowly bested the fading Frenchman.

Results :
1 Davide Cimolai (Ita) FDJ 4:28:21
2 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
3 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data
4 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
5 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
6 Jose Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
7 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott
8 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
9 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
10 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
11 Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
12 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
13 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
14 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
15 Felix Großschartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
16 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
17 Jordi Simon (Spa) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
18 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
19 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
20 Valerio Conti (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
21 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
22 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
23 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
24 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
25 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
26 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
27 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
28 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
29 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott
30 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
31 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
32 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
33 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
34 Caio Godoy (Bra) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
35 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
36 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
37 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
38 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
39 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Sunweb
40 Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon
41 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
42 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
43 Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) Manzana Postobon
44 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
45 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
46 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
47 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
48 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
49 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
50 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
51 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe
52 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
53 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Team UAE Emirates
54 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Manzana Postobon
55 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
56 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
57 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
58 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
59 Stef Clement (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
60 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal
61 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
62 Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ
63 Etienne Van Empel (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
64 Hernando Bohorquez (Col) Manzana Postobon
65 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
66 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
67 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
68 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
69 Juan Felipe Osorio (Col) Manzana Postobon
70 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
71 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
72 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
73 Annas Ait el Abdia (Mor) Team UAE Emirates
74 Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
75 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
76 David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ
77 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida
78 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
79 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
80 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
81 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
82 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
83 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
84 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
85 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
86 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
87 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
88 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
89 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ
90 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott
91 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
92 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
93 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
94 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky
95 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
96 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
97 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
98 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Emirates
99 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
100 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
101 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
102 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team UAE Emirates
103 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
104 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
105 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
106 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
107 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
108 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
109 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
110 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin
111 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
112 Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ
113 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
114 Aldemar Reyes (Col) Manzana Postobon
115 Antonio Piedra (Spa) Manzana Postobon
116 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Team UAE Emirates
117 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
118 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
119 Hernan Aguirre (Col) Manzana Postobon
120 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
121 Martijn Budding (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
122 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
123 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
124 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
125 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
126 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) FDJ
127 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
128 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
129 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
130 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
131 Diego Rubio (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
132 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe
133 Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott
134 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
135 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
136 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-Scott
137 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
138 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
139 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
140 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
141 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
142 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
143 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
144 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
145 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
146 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
147 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
148 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
149 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
150 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
151 Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
152 Luis Mas (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
153 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
154 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
155 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
156 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors

General classification after stage 1 :
1 Davide Cimolai (Ita) FDJ 4:28:11
2 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:04
3 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data 0:00:06
4 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:00:10
5 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
6 Jose Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
7 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott
8 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
9 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
10 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
11 Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
12 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
13 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
14 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
15 Felix Großschartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
16 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
17 Jordi Simon (Spa) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
18 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
19 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
20 Valerio Conti (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
21 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
22 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
23 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
24 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
25 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
26 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
27 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
28 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
29 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott
30 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
31 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
32 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
33 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
34 Caio Godoy (Bra) Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team
35 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
36 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
37 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
38 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
39 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Sunweb
40 Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon
41 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
42 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
43 Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) Manzana Postobon
44 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
45 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
46 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
47 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
48 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
49 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
50 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
51 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe
52 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
53 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Team UAE Emirates
54 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Manzana Postobon
55 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
56 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
57 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
58 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
59 Stef Clement (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
60 Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal
61 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
62 Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ
63 Etienne Van Empel (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
64 Hernando Bohorquez (Col) Manzana Postobon
65 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
66 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
67 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
68 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
69 Juan Felipe Osorio (Col) Manzana Postobon
70 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
71 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
72 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
73 Annas Ait el Abdia (Mor) Team UAE Emirates
74 Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
75 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
76 David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ
77 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida
78 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
79 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
80 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
81 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
82 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
83 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
84 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
85 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
86 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
87 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
88 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
89 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ
90 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott
91 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
92 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
93 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
94 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky
95 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
96 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
97 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
98 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Emirates
99 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
100 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
101 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
102 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team UAE Emirates
103 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
104 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
105 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
106 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
107 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
108 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
109 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
110 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin
111 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
112 Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ
113 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
114 Aldemar Reyes (Col) Manzana Postobon
115 Antonio Piedra (Spa) Manzana Postobon
116 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Team UAE Emirates
117 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
118 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
119 Hernan Aguirre (Col) Manzana Postobon
120 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
121 Martijn Budding (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
122 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
123 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
124 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
125 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
126 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) FDJ
127 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
128 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
129 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
130 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
131 Diego Rubio (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
132 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe
133 Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott
134 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
135 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
136 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-Scott
137 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
138 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
139 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
140 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
141 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
142 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
143 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
144 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
145 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
146 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
147 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
148 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
149 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
150 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
151 Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
152 Luis Mas (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
153 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
154 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
155 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
156 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors