Volta a Catalunya: Lopez wins on La Molina

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Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) attacked from the group of overall contenders on the climb to the finish at La Molina in the heart of the Pyrenees to win the stage and take the overall race lead at the Volta a Catalunya.

The Colombian surged away for the first time with 8.5km to go and went again with five kilometres remaining. He joined the survivors of the long breakaway Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Marc Soler (Movistar) and then dropped them to win alone on the final climb to the finish line.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) beat Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) as they tried to take the final time bonuses from Mühlberger and Soler but they finished 16 seconds behind Lopez.

Adam Yates is now second overall, 14 seconds behind Lopez, with Bernal third at 17 seconds. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was also there, finishing fifth on the stage. He is now fourth overall at 25 seconds.

It was Lopez's second victory of 2019 after he won the overall classification of the Colombia 2.1 stage race. Remarkably it was Astana's 20th victory of the 2019 season by nine different riders.

Lopez sucked on his thumb as a special dedication, with his Astana team suggesting he will soon become a father.

"It was good that the team worked very hard today. They always worked, covering me and being very aware of me – it was very important and today we had a good feeling. Today I had the legs to attack," Lopez explained.

"The important thing is that tomorrow is a little calmer, and we will recover a little and then fight until the last day for sure."

Friday's 188km stage to Sant Cugat del Vallès takes the race towards Barcelona and is suited to the sprinters and attackers. The Volta a Catalunya is expected to be decided during Sunday's final circuit stage and the eight laps of the hilly Montjuic circuit.

How it happened

The sun was out for the second day in the high Pyrenees of Catalunya but at the start in Llanars, the riders nervous about the short 150km stage and the two-climb finale up to the finish in La Molina.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) was still not at his best after his stage 2 crash but signed on and promised to stay in the race. Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin) and Alan Banaszek (Caja Rural-Seguros) didn't finish Wednesday's stage, while Xandro Meurisse (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) was the other non-starter for stage 4.

The early 9.2km Coll de Coubet climb surprisingly didn't inspire attacks but the decent did, with 25 riders forming an attack. In there were significant move were James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Antonio Nibali, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida), Davide Villella (Astana), Patrick Bevin (CCC Team), Michael Storer, Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale), Giulio Ciccone, Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo), Carlos Verona, Marc Soler (Movistar), Hugh Carthy, Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First), Gregor Mühlberger, Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Daniel Navarro (Katusha-Alpecin), Tsgabu Grmay, Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), Sebastian Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), Amaël Moinard (Arkéa-Samsic) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi-Murias).

Some were there simply in support of their teammates and better climbers but they soon opened a 3:20 lead on the valley road. It was going to be a hard day in the saddle.

The mid-stage 19.9km Hors Category Port de la Crueuta climb was always going to shake up the break and the move was soon down to nine riders as Froome lead the peloton for Team Sky for Egan Bernal.

With 60km to go the gap was still at 3:20 as the peloton kept a steady chase and the breakaway gave its all to hold onto their lead. UAE Team Emirates helped with the chase in the hope that Dan Martin could make the final selection.

The first climb up to La Molina was from the south and the with the fast descent and second climb up to the finish, riders faced 25km of climbing in the final 40km of racing.

Soler was also up front and strong in the break with Mühlberger, sensing a chance of the stage victory. However, Team Sky was determined to make them work for it and upped the pace on the first climb to La Molina. Froome did more teamwork on the front before easing up. It was strange to see him in a domestique role but he showed he is determined to fight on despite his road rash and bruises.

The first climb to La Molina shook out the peloton and after the fast descent, the climb back up to La Molina started all over again. Soler and Mühlberger lead the chasers by 1:55 but seemed more determined than the chasers, who were also racing each other for the overall classification. It would be a tactical but high-speed climb to the finish.

Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates lead the peloton as they swept up the remains of the big break and De Gendt was soon dropped, his time in the leader's jersey over after a brave two-day defence in the mountains.

Bernal had the support of Ivan Sosa and Pavel Sivakov but an attack by Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) with 8.5km to go quickly turned things into a mano-a-mano fight.

After a minute of hesitation, Bernal stomped on the pedals, using his big chainring and blasted across to Lopez. Quintana was on his wheel, as was Adam Yates. Suddenly the race was a battle of four, with Dan Martin and the rest distanced.

Quintana – perhaps stung by the criticism and questions why he had not worked with Bernal on Wednesday, helped drive the attack this time. However, Lopez kicked again with five kilometres to and this time opened a significant gap on his own. Behind Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) surged across to the Bernal group as the gradient eased, with Simon quickly offering his services to his twin brother.

However, Lopez caught Soler and Mühlberger and dragged them along on the 5 per cent climb. They kept their lead on a short, fast descent through the snow-covered peaks. Lopez kicked away for victory in the final kilometre as the road climbed again. He pushed hard all the way to the line, gaining enough time to give him and Astana a special stage win and race leader's double.

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