The 22-year-old battled against the sprinters on the second stage.
Figueres, the hometown of Salvador Dali – one of Surrealism’s leading exponents – hosted a stage finish at the Volta a Catalunya for the first time this century, and despite the presence of some climbs on the course and even of a bit of crosswind, it all came down to a bunch sprint.
Junior Lecerf was there for Soudal Quick-Step, showing his speed on the final 600m averaging 4% against the big sprinters of the race and coming close to a top ten on this stage won by Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech). Being there in the finale helped the young Belgian gain a couple of places in the general classification, where he is now our team’s highest-ranked rider, in ninth, just a couple of seconds off the podium.
Both Lecerf and Mikel Landa – who is on the same time as his teammate – will have an important opportunity to move up in the standings on Wednesday’s stage to La Molina – the only summit finish in the Pyrenees of this edition. The first-category climb comes after a day with an elevation gain of almost 5000 meters.
Photo credit: ©Szymon Gruchalski / Getty Images
