Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2018 – Stage 7 [LAST 20 KM]

March 25, 2018

Tirreno-Adriatico 2018 – Stage 7 – Barcelona (Montjuic) : 154,8 km

The 2018 Volta a Catalunya is a road cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place between 19 and 25 March 2018 in Spain. It will be the 98th edition of the Volta a Catalunya and the ninth event of the 2018 UCI World Tour.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) had to fight every metre of the way to win his third Volta a Catalunya in a dramatic, crash-ridden finale that saw second-placed Egan Bernal (Team Sky) abandon the race injured, and Simon Yates (Michelton-Scott) take the stage win.

The defending champion responded personally to several attacks by Bernal and Yates on a tumultuous series of multiple 6.6-kilometre laps of the slippery, hilly final circuit through the Montjuic Park in Barcelona.

Yates went clear first with teammate Daryl Impey, then formed a four-rider attack with another Michelton-Scott rider, Carlos Verona. He finally dropped Valverde’s teammate Marc Soler – who had beaten the Briton recently in Paris-Nice – to claim the stage win alone.

Valverde, however, remained the overall leader, taking the Volta a Catalunya ahead of Nairo Quintana – the overall winner in 2016 – and Pierre LaTour (AG2R La Mondiale). It was Valverde’s third stage race win of the season, after the Volta a Valencia and Tour of Abu Dhabi. Next stop: the Ardennes.

“It’s been a very hard-fought race, and overall we did very well,” Valverde said, “with me in first, Nairo second, Marc fifth and second on today’s stage and the teams prize. I’m just sorry about what happened to Bernal.

“It’s just sad proof that we are right to say something is never won ’til you cross the final finishing line.”

Valverde’s third overall win has enabled him to draw equal with Spanish great Miguel Indurain, who won the Volta a Catalunya three times in the late eighties and early nineties. “I’m starting to get to the point where I win records now, and I never expected it.”

The early part of the 154-kilometre stage was relatively quiet, although there were two high-profile abandons: Esteban Chaves (Michelton-Scott) quit after a crash, and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), briefly the race leader after his stunning stage 3 victory, also went home.

Meanwhile Valverde and Bernal continued their ‘battle of the bonuses’ with Valverde snatching three seconds over two intermediate sprints, and Bernal one. Then as the race moved into its final third, eight riders broke away: Jhonatan Narvaez (Quick Step), Bram Tankink (NL-Loto) Rolland (EF) , Pablo Torres (Burgos-BH), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) Johannes Frohilinger (Team Sunweb), Willem J Smit (Katusha) and NIcholas Shultz (Caja Rural).

Michelton-Scott were initially the keenest to close down the dangerous-looking break, but the real game-changer proved to be when 2017 Volta stage winner Daryl Impey (Michelton-Scott) bridged across to the eight leaders, and as soon as the break was finally closed down Impey promptly charged away again.

Narvaez, an impressively strong Mohoric and Schulz were also able to avoid the peloton’s clutches for a little longer, and then more riders got across with 30 kilometres to go, including Marc Soler (Movistar), Enric Mas (Quick Step Floors) and Sergio Henao (Team Sky). Finally Simon Yates (Michelton-Scott) also bridged across, which provoked a response by GC contenders Valverde and Egan Bernal.

In a flurry of moves and counter moves, Bernal made one surging attack that was clamped down by Vavlerde, and finally, with two laps to go, Yates made it off the front alone with Verona and Mohoric. Shadowed by Soler, behind Movistar kept the remainder of the favourites under control.

Then whilst Bernal’s crash alongside Jose Joaquin Rojas and – reportedly – Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates), saw the talented young Sky rider abandon within sight of the biggest result of his career to date, Valverde came home safely in the main pack in ninth place, for a third overall victory.

Results :
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 3:28:04
2 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:13
3 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:18
4 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
5 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
8 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
9 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
10 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
11 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
12 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
13 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
14 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
15 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
16 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
17 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:51
18 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:06
19 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:09
21 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
22 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
23 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
24 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates
25 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
26 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
27 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:11
28 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:41
29 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
30 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
31 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ
32 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
33 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data
34 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
35 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
36 Amael Moinard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
37 Jérémy Maison (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
38 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Fortuneo-Samsic
39 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
40 Stef Clement (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
41 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Manzana Postobon
42 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
43 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
44 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
45 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo
46 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
47 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
48 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
49 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
50 James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors
51 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
52 Pablo Torres Muiño (Spa) Burgos BH
53 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
54 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
55 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
56 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
57 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
58 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
59 Wilmar Andres Paredes Zapata (Col) Manzana Postobon
60 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
61 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
62 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
63 Hernan Ricardo Aguirre Caipa (Col) Manzana Postobon
64 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
65 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
66 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
67 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
68 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
69 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:01
70 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:30
71 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:08
72 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
73 Jhojan Orlando Garcia Sosa (Col) Manzana Postobon
74 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
75 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
76 Joaquim Silva (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:51
77 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:04:39
78 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
79 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:05:11
80 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
81 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:05:35
82 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
83 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
84 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
85 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:05:38
86 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:07:03
87 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:09
88 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
89 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
90 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos BH
91 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
92 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
93 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
94 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:07:34
95 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
96 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
97 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
98 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
99 Aldemar Reyes Ortega (Col) Manzana Postobon
100 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
101 Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH
102 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
103 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
104 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:09:53
105 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
106 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos BH 0:09:54
107 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
108 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
109 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
110 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
111 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:11:36
112 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
113 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
DNF Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
DNF Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
DNF Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky
DNF David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky
DNF Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
DNF Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Igor Merino Kortazar (Spa) Burgos BH
DNF Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
DNF Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon
DNF Fabio Duarte (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
DNF Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Final General Classification:
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 28:25:07
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:29
3 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:47
4 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
5 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:10
6 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:23
7 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:29
8 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:31
9 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:34
11 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:35
12 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:45
13 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:18
14 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:30
15 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:02:40
16 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:02:54
17 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:56
18 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:03:31
19 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:32
20 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:43
21 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:59
22 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:04:08
23 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:04:12
24 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Manzana Postobon
25 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:06:23
26 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:27
27 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:04
28 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:07:09
29 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:07:16
30 Amael Moinard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:07:23
31 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:07:38
32 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:08:23
33 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Quick-Step Floors 0:08:25
34 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:08:30
35 Jhojan Orlando Garcia Sosa (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:08:41
36 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:08:43
37 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:13
38 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:09:19
39 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:09:36
40 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:09:48
41 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:14
42 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:32
43 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:10:58
44 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:03
45 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:17
46 Hernan Ricardo Aguirre Caipa (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:11:43
47 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:12:39
48 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:15
49 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:13:19
50 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:13:48
51 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:15:12
52 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:18:02
53 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:18:17
54 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:19:09
55 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:20:16
56 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin 0:20:18
57 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:20:57
58 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:21:14
59 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:21:26
60 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:21:30
61 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:14
62 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:22:15
63 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:46
64 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:23:04
65 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:24:23
66 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:24:42
67 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:25:29
68 Stef Clement (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:25:53
69 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:27:03
70 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:27:05
71 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:27:09
72 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:27:18
73 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:27:46
74 Jérémy Maison (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:27:52
75 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos BH 0:29:12
76 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:29:27
77 James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors 0:30:05
78 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:30:18
79 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:30:19
80 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:30:37
81 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:31:13
82 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
83 Joaquim Silva (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:31:35
84 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:31:44
85 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:32:30
86 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:32:47
87 Wilmar Andres Paredes Zapata (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:33:50
88 Aldemar Reyes Ortega (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:34:21
89 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:34:51
90 Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH 0:35:23
91 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:35:57
92 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:36:23
93 Pablo Torres Muiño (Spa) Burgos BH 0:37:27
94 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:38:25
95 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:38:31
96 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:38:56
97 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:39:58
98 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:42:05
99 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:44:25
100 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos BH 0:46:32
101 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:47:20
102 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:47:48
103 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:48:15
104 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:49:13
105 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:49:15
106 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:49:47
107 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:51:55
108 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:52:08
109 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:56:57
110 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:58:19
111 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 1:03:28
112 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:04:20
113 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1:10:52