Remco Evenepoel wins final stage of Volta a Catalunya in Barcelona but Primoz Roglic seals overall GC victory
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Updated 26/03/2023 at 13:27 GMT
A thrilling duel on the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya just about went the way of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), but the General Classification spoils went to Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), who gave his Belgian rival very little breathing space during the run-in to Barcelona. Stream the 2023 cycling season live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk.
Evenepoel claims Stage 7 victory as Roglic seals overall triumph - Volta a Catalunya highlights
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) secured victory on the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya but couldn't quite get the better of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) in the General Classification.
Roglic started the day with a 10-second advantage over Evenepoel and despite the Belgian’s best efforts, his rival clung to his wheel like glue for much of the ride around Barcelona.
It was a thrilling climax to the race with the two men showing great form and whetting the appetite for another duel at the upcoming Giro d’Italia.
Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) took third after momentarily threatening to upset the two big guns before fading away.
All eyes were on the battle between Roglic and Evenepoel with the GC on the line, and the pair duly delivered.
With around 29km to go, Evenepoel made his move but couldn’t shake off the Slovenian with Soler keeping pace to make it a threesome out front.
As the gap increased, Soler drifted back and the chasing pack sensed an opportunity for third place on the day.
But the Spaniard was able to hold on even with the potential looming threat of teammate Joao Almeida - who finished third in the overall standings - in the final few kilometres.
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Evenepoel claims Stage 7 victory as Roglic seals overall triumph - Volta a Catalunya highlights
"I did some super nice steps this week," said Roglic afterwards. "I’m on the way of building up, I need these kind of things to improve and be good.
"Now, first holidays and celebrations, then build up towards the Giro.
"I’m honoured and super pleased to be among the winners of one of the oldest races. It was definitely something missing, so I’m honoured, happy.
"Big thanks to my guys around me, we can celebrate.
"I’m happy to take overall, everything went perfect so we can enjoy it."
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'We proved we were strongest!' - Evenepoel 'super happy' to beat Roglic on Stage 7
Evenepoel was also pleased with his overall performance in taking the stage, despite missing out on a race victory.
"Super happy," he said. "It was a tough one. As I said before it was going to be really hard to drop Primoz on a course like this.
"It was a nice battle with Primoz and I’m happy I could beat him in a sprint.
"It’s Primoz Roglic. He’s one of the strongest riders in the world. He’s in really good shape. When he’s in top shape he’s probably the best rider in the world. I knew if there was one guy who was going to follow me, it was him.
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Leader of the general classification, Team Jumbo-Visma's Slovenian rider Primoz Roglic celebrates after the 7th and last stage of the 2023 Volta Catalunya cycling tour of Catalonia, a 136 km race starting and finishing in Barcelona, on March 26, 2023.
Image credit: Getty Images
He added: "I was hoping to come here for the podium and to win some stages and in the end coming second by only six seconds, it’s almost the same.
"When you see how strong I was and how strong Primoz was, one of us was meant to be the winner of this beautiful race.
"I’m happy that my team was on point and overall I think we showed we were the strongest team this week."
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