Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) sprinted to victory on stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya in Banyoles, holding off Noa Isidore (Decathlon-CMA CGM) in the dash to the line after the peloton caught breakaway survivor Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché) a kilometre from the finish.
Cort hit the front with 150 metres to go of the 167.4km stage from Figueres, taking over from Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who had put in a powerful burst of speed with 350 metres remaining.
He had Isidore and Francesco Busatto (Alpecin-Premier Tech) on his wheel, while stage 1 winner Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) followed not far behind. Ultimately, though, Cort had the speed to hold on and secure the 35th win of his career and his 13th at a Spanish race.
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Isidore and Busatto rounded out the podium, while Godon, retaining the race lead by 10 seconds from Cort, finished fourth.
"It was a difficult stage. Coming down from Olot, there was a lot of fighting for positions on the downhill. I didn't like it too much, so I was a bit far back," Cort said after the stage.
"The team kept believing in me, and I don't know how they succeeded, but Anders [Skaarseth] piloted me from the last position to first between 3km and 1.5km to go. Then I had Anthon [Charmig] to deliver the last bit. It was amazing – really good teamwork.
"In Catalunya, you have many similar stages to this, sprints from reduced groups. It suits me well, which is why I've wanted to come here for many years. Finally, I'm here and very excited to win. It's a place I know very well. When I first turned pro, I was living here for many years. I still love coming here for training camps, and I've been on this road a million times on rest days. For me, it's like winning at home."
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Cort is now second overall in the general classification, level on time with Godon. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is third at four seconds down, while Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) is fourth at six seconds.
Dorian Godon of Ineos Grenadiers celebrates at podium as race leader for second day at Volta a Catalunya (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
Stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya would take the riders on a 167.4km run from Figueres to Banyoles. The 1,900 metres of elevation and single classified climb along the way not expected to disrupt the sprinters in their pursuit of a mass sprint finish.
It wouldn't take long for the breakaway to get away, with a group of five jumping away on the lumpy terrain in the early kilometres of the stage.
The Lotto-Intermarché pair of Liam Slock and Baptiste Veistroffer were joined in the move by Julen Arriolabengoa (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Samuel Fernández (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma) in the move.
The breakaway riding through Besalú on stage 2 of Volta a Catalunya 2026 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ineos Grenadiers, EF Education-EasyPost, and NSN were among the teams working in the peloton behind, though the break was permitted to get up the road and build a gap of three minutes.
After 21 kilometres, the break passed the only climb of the day, the third-category Alt del Purgatori. Veistroffer, the mountain classification leader after stage 1, added three points to his lead to take his tally to 16.
At 103km to go, the Frenchman led the break over the first intermediate sprint of the day at Peralada, taking three points and three bonus seconds. It was the same story just over 40km later at Besalú, where Veistroffer passed stage 1 winner Dorian Godon to move into the points lead.
A split in the peloton shortly afterwards on a hilly stretch saw the two Lotto men and Uriarte go clear of Arriolabengoa and Fernández. The road, meanwhile, kept climbing towards the day's high point just past the third intermediate sprint at Olot.
There, Veistroffer added another three sprint points to his name, taking his total to 15. He, Slock, and Uriarte continued to lead over the top of the uncategorised ascent, and with 28km to run, they led the peloton by 1:40.
A long, largely descending run to the finish followed, with Ineos, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, NSN, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG now in pursuit of both Veistroffer and Slock, who had left Uriarte behind to bid for victory together.
Baptiste Veistroffer and Liam Slock out front on stage 2 of Volta a Catalunya 2026 (Image credit: Getty Images)
The duo battled on, losing time as they raced, with their advantage falling under the minute mark as Banyoles neared. With 10km to go, just 40 seconds of their lead remained. 5km later, that time gap had fallen to just 10 seconds.
Veistroffer dropped back with 3.5km to go, leaving teammate Slock to push on alone. The Belgian continued until the flamme rouge, but his bid for glory ended there.
With Slock back in the fold, several teams, including Alpecin-Premier Tech, Uno-X Mobility, and UAE, took over the race lead to set up the sprint.
Uno-X held the prime position heading into that final kilometre, though it was Oliveira who pushed on at the front with a late attack/long sprint with 350 metres left to run.
Cort was in the perfect position, however, and surged clear before holding off his rivals to add a first career stage win in Catalunya to six at the Vuelta a España, four at O Gran Camiño, and one apiece at the Clásica de Almería and the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
The final sprint was won by Magnus Cort (left) (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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