As it happened: Race favourite destroys the competition on stage 5 of Volta a Catalunya 2026
Jonas Vingegaard takes the win ahead of Felix Gall and Lenny Martinez on La Molina
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Race situation
Vingegaard soloed to the win with Gall taking second and Martinez sprinting to third.
The neutral start is due in just half an hour.
Hola and welcome to the fifth stage of the Volta a Catalunya live here on Cyclingnews' live report!
Let's take a look back at yesterday's stage with the post race report. It was a shortened day due to extreme winds on the summit finish climb of Vallter 2000 so it was a surprise opportunity for the sprinters. A chance Ethan Vernon and his NSN team didn't miss!
It was a very good day for Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) as he took nine bonus seconds over the course of the stage, jumping above Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in the GC to sit in second overall behind race leader, Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) by 13 seconds.
The GC fight is a tight one at the moment with Pidcock just 13 seconds off Godon's lead. Evenepoel is a second behind the Brit on 14 seconds while Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is on 24 seconds.
Two non-starters today:
The riders have started the neutral zone.
Pidcock had some very excitable family time before the start of the stage. The Yorkshireman looks like a different man this season with some superb performances. Will he continue to surprise today?
La Seu d'Urgell looks like an absolutely gorgeous place to start a bike race!
The leading trio are joined by one more rider and have a gap of 10 seconds.
The lead group grows dramatically with 15 riders in the front!
The lead group looks to have settled down to nine riders:
Josh Burnett (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) desperately tried to bridge the gap but has been swallowed up at the base of the first climb of the day, the 15.3km long Port Colldarnat which has an average gradient of 5% with a max kick of 12%.
The leading group of nine riders have 30 seconds on a new chasing group of three riders with the peloton a further 10 seconds behind them.
All change at the front yet again as the group swells to 16 riders on the Port Colldarnat.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) is one of the riders who has bridged to the leading group.
The break are pushing hard and two riders have been dropped back to the peloton.
Adria Pericas (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Antoine l'Hote (Decathlon-CMA CGM), Michael Leonard (EF Education-EasyPost), Einer Rubio (Movistar) and Simone Gualdi (Lotto-Intermarche) and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma) have joined Engelhardt, Veistroffer, Lecerf, Svarre, Gonzalez, Wenzel and Stites.
The peloton is going at such a rate that a split has formed. Will any of the big GC names have been caught out on the first ascent of the day?
Joining Ciccone and Leonard are Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Cristian Rodriguez (XDS-Astana), Junior Lecerf (Soudal-QuickStep), Davide Piganzoli (Visma-Lease a Bike), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon-CMA CGM), Embret Svestad-Bårdseng (Ineos Grenadiers) and four others.
The group continues to grow with Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious), Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) and about 5 others join.
Rubio, Uriarte, Engelhardt, Svarre, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Jan Hirt (NSN), Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) and Damien Howson (Pinarello-Q36.5) complete the group.
Piganzoli and Rubio are just 10 seconds off the three leaders. The 17 man chase group are 20 seconds off and the peloton is 50 seconds back.
The race leader, Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), has already been dropped and is well out of the back.
Piganzoli and Rubio join Ciccone, Soler and Lecerf out front as the rest of the break are dragged back by what remains of the peloton. The gap between the front and the bunch now sits at just over a minute.
Despite his best efforts, it looks like Veistroffer will not be taking many KOM points today and may find his lead in the classification under threat.
The riders go over the top of the Port Colldarnat.
The expected teams are controlling in the peloton with Ineos Grenadiers and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe doing the bulk of the work. UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike are also on the front, despite having riders in the break. This is likely to help their GC favourites to be well positioned for the descent.
They completed the 15.3km climb of the Port Colldarnat with its average gradient of 5% and max of 12% in 33 minutes 30 seconds with an average speed of 27.4kph.
The leaders have one minute and 25 seconds on the peloton.
Godon has made it back into the peloton. Exceptional riding from the race leader to return so soon on the descent.
The best placed riders in the break are Soler and Piganzoli who both sit at 26 seconds behind Godon. Ciccone is almost four minutes down with Rubio at nine and Lecerf and 13 minutes respectively.
The riders are now already climbing towards the next climb of the Coll de Josa. However, the categorised climb is only 4.7km long with an average gradient of 5% and a max kick of 8%, making it a category 2. The lowest classified climb of the day.
Mechanical for Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers).
Godon also had a mechanical issue along with Onley. However, both are safely back in the peloton again. The leaders now have a minute and a half gap.
At the start of the Coll de Josa the fiva man break has just under two minutes on the peloton.
Just over 1500 metres of climbing done. Over 2600 metres still to do!
The break go over the top of the Coll de Josa with a gap of one minute and 50 seconds on the peloton.
The gap continues to grow with another 15 seconds added on to it.
The gap is just drifting up ever so slightly now with two minutes and 20 seconds splitting the peloton and the break at roughly the half way point on the stage.
They're about 5km from officially starting the third climb of the day, the Coll de Fumanya. It is 6.7km long with an average gradient of 7% and a rather nasty max kick of 15%.
Onto the Coll de Fumanya goes the break.
Inside 4km from the top of the Coll de Fumanya.
The gap has dropped to two minutes and 10 seconds as they got onto the steepest slopes of the climb.
Lecerf has been distanced by the rest of the break on the steepest gradients.
The young Belgian should be able to get back on over the top with just around 700 metres left to climb.
Godon is amongst several other riders who have lost touch again as the gradients really bite.
The descent is about as steep as the ascent with the riders taking on the rapid plunge to the valley again.
Lecerf has just been caught by the peloton with the gap shrinking and the peloton splitting. The leading four now have one minute and 46 seconds.
Maybe only 30 riders in the front part of the peloton.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Luke Tuckwell is doing a terrific job of keeping the break's gap low.
The riders are not far away from the bottom of the penultimate climb of the day, the Collada de Sobirana. This one is 7.1km at 6.5% with a max kick of 15%.
Onto the climb they go.
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) was briefly off the back. He seems to have got back on for now, though.
5km from the top of the Collada de Sobirana. Just over a minute between the break and the peloton.
Rubio has just been dropped by the breakaway. He's been drifting off the wheels at the back for some time but he can do no more.
Three hours in and the average speed is over 38kph.
Inside 2km from the top of the Collada de Sobirana. Soler, Ciccone and Piganzoli are riding hard to really push Tuckwell and his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates to keep them controlled.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe now down to their big three riders on the front with Jai Hindley leading the way ahead of Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz.
KOM (Collada de Sobirana)
1. Ciccone (LTK) 10pts
2. Piganzoli (TVL) 8pts
3. Soler (UAD) 6pts
4. Hindley (RBH) 4pts
5. Evenepoel (RBH) 2pts
6. Svestad-Bårdseng (IGD) 1pt
The riders now have a descent all the way to the only intermediate sprint of the day, which takes place in Bagà. Immediately after that the riders start the Coll de Pal all the way to La Molina.
Every single rider who crashed is back riding, fortunately.
The peloton is now made up of maybe 20 riders now after a very difficult descent.
Pidcock has missed the split along with Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and a few others as well. They're about 20 seconds behind the main GC group.
Ciccone has been rejoined by Soler and Piganzoli. They have just over a minute on what is left of the peloton.
João Almeida and Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates-XRG were the two riders who came down in the second crash. They get to the back of the peloton as they come back together again and form a group of around 50 to 60 riders.
The break went into a tunnel with cars, coaches and vans all driving towards them. The security on the race looking frantic as someone somewhere wasn't paying attention. Thankfully, all clear for the peloton.
Onto the final climb of the day! The Coll de Pal is 16.7km long with an average gradient of 6.7% with a maximum kick of 12.6%.
Soler and Piganzoli are about 10 seconds off the back of the lone leader, Ciccone. The peloton has new leaders, Ineos Grenadiers and Decathlon-CMA CGM.
Pidcock has been dropped on the early ascent of the climb. He is about 20 seconds behind the peloton. He allegedly crashed on the descent.
Soler caught by the Ineos Grenadiers led peloton. Victor Langellotti is the man leading the way.
Soler goes straight out of the back of the peloton.
Ciccone extends his lead to 58 seconds over the peloton that is still led by Ineos Grenadiers' Laurens De Plus.
Piganzoli caught by the peloton.
That attack is pulled back.
Ineos Grenadiers completely disappear with just Oscar Onley left out front.
Eulalio goes to the front while on the radio. Lipowitz slots into his wheel as a few riders are dropped out of the back.
9km to go and Ciccone has 56 seconds.
Kuss is leading the chase in the peloton.
The Movistar rider in this move is Juan Pedro Lopez!
Gall looks to be absolutely flying but Lipowitz and Martinez have made it back. However, Ciccone is still out front by 34 seconds. The Italian is riding so well today.
Pidcock doesn't seem to be doing too badly. He hasn't lost too much time since his crash. Said to be about a minute and 10 seconds behind the GC group.
Almeida has been dropped for now. We do see him do this all the time but he is rocking and rolling. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) has also lost touch.
Ciccone has 20 seconds on Gall, Martinez and Lipowitz and 38 seconds on the peloton with 7km to go.
Almeida doing Almeida things and he makes his way back on as he drops Carapaz as well.
Vingegaard catches the Gall group and has dropped Evenepoel!
Vingegaard pushes clear with Gall, Martinez, Paret-Peintre and Lipowitz.
Ciccone caught with 6km to go.
5km to go with Vingegaard leading.
Chase group two is Evenepoel, Ciccone, Skjelmose, Fortunato, Riccitello, Onley, Uijtdebroeks at 52 seconds.
Chase group three is Almeida, Piganzoli, Carapaz, Mas at 1'00"
3km to go for Vingegaard with 49 seconds over Gall, Lipowitz, Paret-Peintre and Martinez and one minutes 17 seconds back to Skjelmose, Evenepoel, Riccitello, Fortunato and Uijtdebroeks.
It looks like Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) and George Bennett (NSN) have rejoined the Evenepoel group.
The chase group are stalling as they refuse to work with each other. They have a brilliant opportunity to get a podium here.
The group behind Vingegaard is a minute down with Evenepoel and go 34 seconds further down the mountain.
500 metres to go for Vingegaard.
Gall has about 20 metres gap on Lipowitz and Martinez with Paret-Peintre the same behind them.
250 metres to go for Vingegaard.
Jonas Vingegaard wins stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya 2026!
Gall is riding away and will take second place on the day.
Martinez, Lipowitz and Paret-Peintre finish together with Martinez leading them in.
Evenepoel leads in the next group but he will be very disappointed with today.
Make sure to read out post race report by clicking the link below for the analysis and reactions...
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