Vingegaard gives another recital at the Volta with the double in Queralt

Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) won the sixth stage of the Volta a Catalunya this Saturday, a tough day over 158 kilometers between Berga and Queralt that made it easy for the leader and favorite to take the final victory.

Vingegaard found no opposition despite being left without a team in the descent of the fearsome Coll de Pradell, launched by Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and the final climb to the Santuari de Queralt with ramps of up to 20% gradient. With two kilometers to go, the Dane escaped alone and signed his second victory in a row on Catalan roads to secure the general standings.

The Dane proved to be at another level and will defend his leader’s jersey this Sunday in the last stage in Barcelona, ​​with the traditional climbing circuit to Montjuïc Castle, now with the French Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), second at one minute and 20 seconds, and the German Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), third at one minute and a half.

With all eyes on Vingegaard, after their exhibition with victory and leadership in La Molina this Friday, the Volta faced with high battle expectations an attractive penultimate day where Tadej Pogacar excelled two years ago. After a rough start, which cost Michel Hessmann (Movistar) his retirement due to a fall, the attacks did not take long, until 15 riders established their escape, among them the Spanish Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates XRG), with two minutes ahead of the peloton and holding on to the Coll de la Batallola.

The stage then reached the expected Coll de Pradell, but there were no general movements. No one took advantage of the special pass to try to make up for the time lost the previous day due to legs, given what we saw. Soler, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Embret Svestad-Bardseng (Ineos Grenadiers) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) remained in the lead, but the income fell.

Having crowned Sant Isidre, Ciccone was left alone and went deep without the group behind loosening, a peloton sifted by the descent led by Remco Evenepoel and which Vingegaard took advantage of. The leader, without a team in the final breakaway after the work of Team Visma to hold the different breakaways, knocked out the second overall, Felix Gall (Decathlon).

With 10 kilometers to go, heading towards the final climb to the Santuari de Queralt, the legs that had already weakened in La Molina did not work miracles and Vingegaard, already with six other cyclists, gave the final blow without breaking a sweat, just over two kilometers from the finish line, to gain ten seconds on Martinez and Lipowitz. The Dane demonstrated his category where his great rival Pogacar won in 2024.