Rohan Dennis flies in Banyoles before the mountain

March 23 rd 2021 - 18:54

© Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

The Volta Ciclista a Catalunya recovered this year an individual time trial for its 100th edition, in a second stage that has begun to order the classification before the arrival of the mountain. Banyoles, the same setting that hosted a team time trial in 2017, has been the ideal showcase for an individual effort of 18.5 kilometers that has crowned the Australian Rohan Dennis (Ineos-Grenadiers), while Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step ) stood as the new leader of the overall ranking.

The roads of the Pla de l'Estany starred in the first CRI since 2010 in the Volta, which began fulfilling forecasts with the best time of the French champion Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick Step), a specialist in the discipline. There were not many names capable of exceeding 22 minutes and 32 seconds, but if anyone was among the candidates it was Rohan Dennis, the world time trial champion in 2018 and 2019, who has surpassed the time of the Frenchman by five seconds to score this mode his first victory with the team Ineos-Grenadiers. However, the Australian's great time was not enough to get the lead that Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal) defended today after his victory in the first stage.

The two minutes lost for Dennis in the opening day have favored the fact that the third classified of the stage, the young Joao Almeida, was able to wear the leader's jersey practically tied in time with the North American Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates). A new first level milestone for the Portuguese, only 22 years old, who last season was presented in partnership with a great fourth place in the overall classification of the Giro d'Italia. In addition to the stage triumph, Ineos-Grenadiers has been the team that has taken the best spoils, placing three of its big names in the fight for the final victory of the Volta (Richie Porte, Adam Yates and Geraint Thomas) among the ten first classified, with less than twenty seconds lost in the classification.

The rest of the candidates for the final victory have remained on the threshold of the lost minute. In the third stage tomorrow, the fight for the overall classification will take another level with the arrival of the high mountain: 203.1 kilometers between the Canal Olímpic de Catalunya and the Vallter 2000 ski station, a first arrival in height that will define the forces of the great climbers who seek to take the 100th edition of the Volta a Catalunya.

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