Two World Tour stage races, two top ten results for the Basque this season.
Mikel Landa took a strong fourth place at the 104th edition of the Volta a Catalunya, which brought down the curtain with the traditional Barcelona stage, which featured six laps over the Montjuic, the 2.5km climb averaging 4.6% where the big moves once again came.
After a fast start to the stage, which saw the peloton nullify all the breakaway attempts, as some of the GC riders had in plan to fight for the intermediate sprint bonus seconds. A small group eventually went clear, but it was a short-lived move, the bunch coming back on the third lap. The first big attack came on the fourth ascent of the Montjuic, where Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) took off and soloed to the stage victory, which netted him also the leader’s jersey.
Behind, Landa was part of a strong chasing group that tried to put pressure on the others and open a gap, but the bunch reacted on the descent and bridged across. In the end, Mikel came home with the main group and finished fourth overall for the 22nd top ten of his career in a World Tour stage race, and the second of the season, after his seventh place at Tirreno-Adriatico, just a couple of weeks ago.
“It’s been a hard week with some long stages. Today was very explosive, attacks coming left and right, but I did my best and I’m happy with keeping my fourth place on the general classification. I am satisfied with this result and with my form five weeks before the start of the Giro d’Italia”, said Mikel.
It was a special day also for Pieter Serry. A member of the Wolfpack since 2013, when he made the step up to the World Tour, the 37-year-old Belgian celebrated his 1000th race day, a fantastic achievement that left him speechless as he received a cake in the applause of his Soudal Quick-Step teammates before the start of the stage.
“I’m really proud of this milestone. When I began riding many years ago, I never believed I would turn pro, so to be here today makes me happy, because I realise how impressive it is. I have so many beautiful memories from all these years, it’s difficult to name just one, but what I can say is that I am proud of this achievement and also of being part of this incredible team”, Pieter said.
Photo credit: ©Szymon Gruchalski/ Getty Images
