The 23-year-old took an encouraging result before the first summit arrival of the race.
The peloton climbed from the off on the second stage of the Volta a Catalunya, a 166.7km trek from Mataro to Sant Feliu de Guixols, a small town situated on the Costa Brava. Three mountain passes dotted the route, which culminated in an uphill drag to the finish, where the puncheurs were expected to be in the limelight.
Unlike Monday, the bunch didn’t make any more mistakes and overhauled the three-man breakaway that had animated the day long before it came down to crunch time, on the slopes of Alt de Romanys. Despite the descent not being technical, some riders tried to slip away, only to be brought back as the peloton was making its way into Sant Feliu de Guixols, a stage finish at the Volta a Catalunya for the first time in more than nine decades.
A fierce battle for position ensued in the closing kilometers, with many riders keen to gain places in the field and start at the front the complicated final 600 meters, which averaged 5.2%. Won by Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), the stage saw Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s James Knox get involved in the sprint and take a strong sixth place for his fourth top 10 of the season.
Eighth overall at the UAE Tour last month, a result which gave him a major confidence boost, James made a significant jump in the general classification following Tuesday’s stage, which came just before the summit finish to Vallter 2000, where together with teammate Enric Mas, who concluded the day in the same time, will try to be in contention and continue making inroads in the standings.
Photo credit: ©David Ramos/ Getty Images
