Primoz Roglic conquers Lo Port to be more leader
March 24 th 2023 - 18:48 [GMT + 1]
Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) won his second stage and is now the leader of the Volta a Catalunya 2023 after the fifth day, which took place between Tortosa and the finish at Lo Port. The Slovenian has again faced a thrilling duel with world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) on the ramps of the spectacular climb of Terres de l'Ebre, managing to extend his lead to ten seconds.
The fifth stage of the 102nd Volta Ciclista a Catalunya was expected to be decisive in Terres de l'Ebre, with a route of 176.6 kilometres starting in the city of Tortosa and finishing in the spectacular Lo Port, an always decisive finish that this year was climbed for the fourth time in the history of the Catalan cycling race.
In the opening moment of the stage, after several attempts, the leader of the mountain classification Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) managed to consolidate a breakaway with Tsgabu Grmay (Jayco-ALula), Ibai Azurmendi (Euskaltel Euskadi), Pablo Castrillo, José Félix Parra and Héctor Carretero (Kern Pharma Team) and Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).
After the Alt de Bot and Coll de Som (3rd category) and the intermediate sprints of Móra la Nova and Roquetes, the latter at the foot of the final ascent, the Ethiopian Tsgabu Grmay was the last rider of the breakaway to resist at the front of the race in the first ramps of Lo Port. Shortly after being caught by an already very selected group of favourites, it was Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) who was the first to attack 4.5 kilometres from the finish, making good use of the efforts shown once again by his team.
The world champion's first attack was only answered by Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Catalan Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), who tried to surprise with a counterattack against the two great dominators of this Volta a Catalunya 2023. Two kilometres from the finish line Joao Almeida, Soler's teammate, caught up with him, but they could not avoid a new duel between Evenepoel and Roglic, which in a frenetic last kilometre ended with the victory of leader Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma).
The Slovenian has managed to gain six seconds on Evenepoel who has faded in the last meters, and thanks to four seconds more with the bonuses, he extends his lead at the top of the general classification of the Volta a Catalunya to ten seconds ahead of Evenepoel. In third place is Portugal's Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), in the same position he finished in the last edition of the Volta, 1:02 behind the leader.
Thus, the tension remains high in the Volta a Catalunya 2023 with two stages to go. The sixth will be this Saturday, with a 174.1-kilometre leg-breaking route starting in Martorell and finishing in Molins de Rei, with the ascent of the Alt de la Creu d'Aragall (2nd category) in the last kilometres. And it seems that everything will still be open on Sunday for the final stage in Barcelona, with the six climbs to the Castell de Montjuic.