Consistent Colombian easily fends off attacks on final stage in Barcelona
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Final GC podium after stage 7 (L to R): Richard Carapaz of Ineos Grenadiers on second place, stage winner Sergio Higuita of Bora-Hansgrohe and João Almeida of UAE Team Emirates on third place,(Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo MorenoGetty Images)
Richard Carapaz of Ineos Grenadiers (right) takes stage 6 victory ahead of Sergio Higuita of Bora-Hansgrohe, who takes GC lead(Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo MorenoGetty Images)
Ethan Vernon wins stage 5 at Volta a Catalunya(Image credit: Getty Images)
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) wins stage 4 ahead of Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe)(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Ben O'Connor is the third Australian to win a stage of Volta a Catalunya, taking stage 3 for AG2R Citroën(Image credit: David RamosGetty Images)
Andrea Bagioli (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) took the win on stage 7 of the Volta a Catalunya in Barcelona, outsprinting Atilla Valter (Groupama-FDJ) and Fernando Barceló (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), who rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.
Among the 18 riders who completed the finale of the seven-day stage race were the top race leaders, including Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) who secured the overall title, and his first WorldTour stage race victory, in Montjuïc Park.
Riding alongside Higuita at the finish was Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), who maintained his position with second place in the overall, and a few wheels back was third-placed João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).
Higuita also claimed the weeklong prizes for best young rider and best climber. Kaden Groves (BikeExchange-Jayco) edged Carapaz for the points classification.
Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) stretched a 130km attack to a finish line sprint with breakaway partner Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) and sprinted to the stage 5 win at the Volta a Catalunya.
The wet day of racing in the mountains saw Higuita take the white-and-green leader's jersey away from João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), using the aggressive ride to turn a seven-second GC deficit into a 52-second advantage heading into Sunday's final stage. Almeida would cross the line in the peloton 48 seconds behind the duo, but hold on to a one-second advantage over Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) for third overall.
Like the GC standings, the weather changed unexpectedly with heavy rain at the start in Salou. There were three categorised climbs across the 168.6km route, which crossed the Prades mountain range and then headed back to the coast and Cambrils. Heading over the final climb of the Col de la Teixeta, Carapaz and Higuita enjoyed a two-minute advantage and they were not contested for the final uphill charge.
Ethan Vernon of QuickStep-AlphaVinyl won stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya to Vilanova i la Geltrú. It was his first victory just three months into his professional career. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) was second and Dorian Godon (AG2R Citroën) was third.
In the race for the overall classification, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) took the leader's jersey after he clashed with overnight leader Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) in the late intermediate sprint for time bonuses.
Almeida now leads the overall classification by one second ahead of Quintana, while Sergio Higuita Garcia (Bora-Hansgrohe) sits seven seconds back in third place.
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) won the mountaintop sprint between the lead group of three on stage 4, leaving the lower steps of the podium for Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe).
The trio had dropped all their rivals by the final 700 metres on the snow-lined roads to the Boí Taüll finish line in the heart of the Pyrenees and lined up side-by-side through the final corners before Almeida came to the front to sweep up stage victory.
Quintana's second place was enough to shift the Arkéa-Samsic rider into the jersey of the overall leader, with Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën) relinquishing that spot, and slipping to sixth on the overall when he was distanced in the final kilometres.
Quintana may have hold of the white and green jersey but it is still a tight GC competition. Almeida now sits in second place, on the same time as Quintana, while Higuita is in third, a further six seconds back. In fact, with three stages still left, little more than 30 seconds separates the top 10.
AG2R Citroën's Ben O'Connor used a solo attack eight kilometres from the finish to win stage 3atop La Molina at the Volta a Catalunya. With the victory the Australian takes over the race lead as well.
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) took control at the front of the select chase group to claim second while Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) took third on Wednesday.
O'Connor made it three for three at this year's Volta a Catalunya for Australian victories, with Michael Matthews and Kayden Groves (both of BikeExchange-Jacyo) taking stage wins the first two days, respectively.
The GC battle remained close as O'Connor held a 10-second advantage over his nearest rival, Ayuso, and Quintana, a former race winner, was just another two second back in third overall. There were almost 30 riders within less than a minute to O'Connors lead with four days to go, including the stage 4 mountaintop finish at Boí Taüll on Thursday.
BikeExchange-Jayco handed the reigns over to Kaden Groves on stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya, who after being perfectly positioned for the sprint by stage 1 victor Michael Matthews then poured on the pace to come around Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and take his first WorldTour win.
However, as both Groves and Matthews were throwing their hands up in Perpignan to celebrate a second victory for the Australian squad, the rest of the team were scrambling to salvage the GC hopes of Simon Yates. The Briton ended up being the the main GC casualty of the crosswinds during the 202.4-kilometre stage. Yates was caught behind because of a crash and was still chasing back as the peloton split occurred.
The gap opened up as Cofidis and Movistar drove at the front in the closing 15km, with the wind on the exposed roads of south-east Occitanie helping to pull the field apart. By the time Yates rejoined the second group at about 10km to go the gap to the group of about 50 riders at the front of the race was 45 seconds. A chase ensued, pulling the margin down to 33 seconds by the line.
Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Team DSM) stepped into the green-and-white jersey of the race leader after sweeping up five bonus seconds from his second successive day out in the breakaway.
Shortly after crossing the line, Colbrelli collapsed and required urgent medical attention. He was transported by ambulance to hospital roughly 45 minutes after the finish, with his team later stating he is in stable condition and undergoing further tests.
Matthews and Colbrelli went head-to-head on opposite sides of the road, with Matthews showing superior staying power as the pair sprinted from 200 metres out.
Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) took the final spot on the podium after threatening to catch the slowing Colbrelli, but there was a small gap back to the rest of the bunch.
Matthews takes the first leader’s jersey of the race on a day when the pre-race favourites finished safely despite pitfalls that included crosswinds and rain.
