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Result
Volta a Catalunya: Tadej Pogacar dominates stage 2 seizing overall lead
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya!
You join us as the peloton heads out for the neutral start in Mataró.
Here's a look at the results from stage 1 of the race.
Israel-Premier Tech rider Nick Schultz took the stage win with a late attack in Sant Feliu de Guixols ahead of Tadej Pogačar.
The peloton all sticking together at this early stage.
Flat roads to start the stage.
This looks like our break of the day already.
Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Kevin Colleoni (Intermarché-Wanty), Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Alex Jaime (Kern Pharma), Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Burgos-BH), and Xabier Isasa (Euskaltel-Euskadi) are in the move.
Three Spaniards plus an Italian, Belgian and Mongolian in the move.
The peloton rolling out at the start of today's stage.
Five minutes for the breakaway six now.
A look at the break of the day with Janssens at the front.
The team are leading the way on behalf of race leader and stage 1 winner Nick Schultz.
Tadej Pogačar has attacked from the peloton! He's making a move along with his teammate Domen Novak.
That is... surprising.
Surely it can't be a real move on the flat roads this far out from the finish...
We'll wait for further updates.
It appears that the move will be a brief one.
160km to go
Pogačar and Novak are reportedly back among the peloton now after a 5km ride off the front. Bizarre.
6:40 for the breakaway now.
Yep, here's a shot of Pogačar and Novak on the attack.
All back to normal now after that strange move.
Pogačar and Novak on the attack a little earlier on.
100km to go until the riders hit the first of two climbs today, the Coll de Coubet.
No major obstacles to traverse before the Coubet.
No change in the race situation at the moment following Pogačar's brief move. The break remain 6:30 up the road.
The peloton, including the aptly named Hungarian champion Attila Valter, on the road to Vallter 2000 today.
Around 20km to go until the riders hit the day's first intermediate sprint in Girona.
Here's what Tadej Pogačar had to say ahead of the start today, speaking to CyclingPro.net...
"It was a really nice stage. We had a great plan and great teammates. Sadly yesterday Jay Vine didn't feel so good so we lost him early – today he can't start because of stomach problems.
"We managed to take second place. It was a great opp for Nick Schultz to take the win and Israel-Premier Tech made a great tactical play and made it happen. For me, it was a little bit too short to the finish line.
"I was thinking too much and relying too much on others. Everybody was waiting for us to do the final move. When Schultz got a gap there was hesitation from everybody. I was thinking Visma would close the gap but I should have taken the initiative.
"Today, on one side it's good that Israel-Premier Tech have the jersey. Let's hope they honour it and control the start and race until the final as the leaders. Then in the final climb, we'll see what we can do, how strong the guys are, and try to make the difference."
Around 15km to Girona now.
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The peloton racing along a highway during today's stage.
It's still pretty much all flat roads for the time being.
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As well as having Alasdair Fotheringham on the ground here in Catalunya, we have Barry Ryan and James Moultrie heading out to the cobbled Classics this week.
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![Jumbo-Visma team's Belgian rider Wout Van Aert (R) and Alpecin-Deceuninck team's Dutch rider Mathieu Van Der Poel (C) cycle with a pack of riders over the Trouee d'Arenberg cobblestone sector during the 120th edition of the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic cycling race, between Compiegne and Roubaix, northern France, on April 9, 2023. (Photo by François LO PRESTI / AFP) / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: BYLINE [Francois Lo Presti] instead of [Anne-Christine Poujoulat]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require." (Photo by FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP via Getty Images)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6WXaWRPfnpp8A5rR5qffaR-1200-80.jpg.webp)
The six riders out front still have a healthy lead, however, the gap has fallen from 5:30 to 4:30 minutes over the last 15km.
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished ninth in the opening stage and is sitting in 11th overall at 10 seconds back in the GC. He spoke with the media at the start in Mataró this morning and made a few pre-race predictions.
"It's all good so far, and it's sometimes nice to know all the roads and what's coming. But, I think a lot of the peloton trains here a lot, so it's good for everybody.
"It's more or less straightforward with just one climb in the end. We have to see what kind of differences there will be or what the weather is like ... who knows?
"There are so many good riders here and good climbers. There can always be some surprises, you never know.
"This race is straightforward, only mountain stages so we [Visma-Lease a Bike teammates] can help each other and see how we do."
The is no change to the race situation with the six breakaway riders working together out front, however, the average speeds are starting to drop as the terrain shift from the flatter valley roads to the more mountainous.
In about 10km, the breakaway will reach the first categorised ascent of the day at Coll de Coubet, which is 9.6km and has an average gradient of 5.4%.
Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), who is 10 seconds down in the GC, spoke with CyclingPro.net ahead of the stage about his ambitions for the overall classification, and how to beat race-favourite Tadej Pogacar.
"I want to show a good result in the GC. My legs were good in Paris-Nice. I've had some rest and we will see today how it goes.
"We can always race for second place, but we can also try to do something. Yesterday, it was possible to beat [Tadej Pogacar] and maybe today it will be something similar.
"It is very difficult to beat him but we will see. Today is a different day, a different stage, a long mountain, and so it will be more difficult. You really need to have the legs."
Now just 3:20 between break and peloton.
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The riders now beginning the climb to the Coll de Coubet.
The climb is 9.6km long at 5.2%.
Fernandez and Isasa are following him.
Janssens and Fernandez off the front now.
It was sunny and warm earlier but it's now raining on the riders as they make their way up the first-category climb.
Isasa currently 10 seconds behind the two leaders.
Isasa and Sainbayar now 25 seconds down in the chase. The remainder of the break is at 40 seconds. The peloton is 3:05 back.
UAE Team Emirates at the head of the peloton.
Tadej Pogačar is pushing on the front on the way down the descent!
2:05 for Fernandez at the moment.
A small group is with Pogačar now, though only a few seconds off the front.
The riders hitting the end of the descent and they race into the valley and Sant Joan de les Abdesses.
1:55 for the two leaders currently.
UAE back on the front on the flatter ground before the final climb.
Colleoni and Jaime have been caught and now it's just the two groups of two left on the move out front.
Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease A Bike also at the front along with UAE Team Emirates.
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It looks like only Janssens and Fernandez are left from the early breakaway now.
EF join UAE at the head of the peloton.
It's still pouring rain on the road to Vallter 2000.
Janssens has left Fernandez behind at the front of the race now.
The pair led the way over the final intermediate sprint of the day at Camprodon. Felix Großschartner led the peloton across the line for third place.
Still two minutes between the break and peloton.
Ineos, Bahrain, UAE, Visma all up there at the front of the peloton.
Fernandez back in the peloton now. Just Janssens left up front.
Rain pouring very hard now.
2.5km until Janssens hits the climb, though the road has been pointing uphill for a while already, even if the gradients have been shallow.
Janssens remains two minutes up the road.
The riders begin the climb to the finish now. It's 11.4km at 7.4%.
Hopefully something happens soon!
Now 1:10 for Janssens.
Still no other movement here...
It looks like helicopter TV coverage is spotty at the moment.
UAE continue to lead ahead of Visma, however.
Splits in the peloton now on the way up.
Just 30 seconds between Janssens and the peloton now.
Pogačar is on the move.
He attacks from a group containing Almeida, Uijtdebroeks, Landa, Bernal, Martinez, Vlasov, Harper, and Tejada.
Eight riders chasing Pogačar now.
It's still raining at the top but a small group of hardy fans are up there waiting to see the riders cross the line.
Landa and Martinez are off the front of the chase in pursuit of Pogačar.
The chase now breaking apart. Vlasov joins Landa and Martinez.
Harper, Bernal, and Almeida next on the road.
A Pogačar win now looking inevitable.
TV pictures continue to drop in and out.
Not long left now, though.
The chase group is back together once again.
Uijtdebroeks and Tejada are off the rear, however.
Now Martinez tries a move but he's marked by Landa.
Landa on the move now.
Vlasov follows him.
No time gaps at the moment.
And no camera on Pogačar either.
Landa and Vlasov clear of the rest.
Almost five hours done.
Pogačar reportedly over a minute in the lead.
Landa leads Vlasov towards the top.
No idea why the organisers haven't sent a camera moto up to the guy who is leading the race. The conditions are bad but this has been dreadful...
Now Pogačar appears on the static cameras leading up to the finish.
He's inside the final 200 metres...
187km of racing and we all knew that result was coming from the start.
Now Landa leads Vlasov towards the line.
Landa leads Vlasov across the line at just over 1:20 down.
A dominant win for Pogačar and it looks like the Volta a Catalunya is as good as over on day two.
Almeida fourth at 1:35. Martinez leads the rest in at 1:41.
Only eight riders finish within two minutes of Pogačar.
Pogačar is the new race leader, obviously.
He's 1:35 up on Landa with Vlasov at 1:38. Almeida at 1:56 is the only other man within two minutes of the overall lead.
Pogačar was second yesterday, won today, and there are two more summit finishes left to race here.
It seems that he and Vingegaard will win at will when they start a race without the other also competing. They're so far ahead of anybody else in the peloton.
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Here's a shot of Pogačar crossing the line solo to score the 65th win of his career.
Pogačar leads the overall, points (18) and mountain (29) classifications after two days. Lenny Martinez is the best young rider in fifth overall.
Here's what Pogačar had to say after the finish...
"We started with nice weather, like summer, and then we saw these clouds, and we were thinking that maybe we could survive until the final climb without rain, but unfortunately, it started to rain on the second-to-last climb.
"The conditions were tough; it was a hard climb, and you could feel the altitude, but I'm happy to win"
That's all from us today in Catalunya. Be sure to look out for news coming in from the race later this evening. And we'll be back with more live coverage from this race and the Classic Brugge-De Panne tomorrow±
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