Cycling: Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) has won the queen stage of the Tour of Catalonia. On the fourth leg of the week-long event, he outdid his opponents and even took the lead in the overall standings. An unleashed Gregor Mühlberger (Bora – hansgrohe) finished second. The Austrian was in the top group of the day and only just missed out on winning the day.
Gregor Mühlberger presents himself strongly
Today the king's stage of the Tour of Catalonia was on the agenda. From Llanars to La Molina it was 150,3 kilometers to complete. The col de Coubet and the Port de la Creueta were initially blocked by mountains of the first and highest category. With 24,6 kilometers to go, the climb up to La Molina had to be mastered for the first time. However, the fight for the day and overall victory only started on the last ascent to the destination. Team Sky took command of the peloton and chased a top duo. With the Spaniard Marc Soler (Movistar) and the Austrian Gregor Muehlberger (Bora – hansgrohe) only two riders of the formerly 23-man breakaway group should defend themselves in the final climb. With a lead of around two and a half minutes, the two went into the 12,4-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 4,4 percent.
The Yates twins team up
Right at the start of the climb, the leader raised the white flag. thomas degendt (Lotto – Soudal) could no longer follow. Like last year, the Belgian loses the leader's jersey up to La Molina. But he wasn't the only well-known professional who had to give up. Team Sky pushed the pace so hard that the lead of the well-harmonized top duo fell drastically. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) started the battle for overall victory around eight kilometers from the finish. Only his Colombian compatriots were able to follow his attack Egan Bernal (Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), as well as the Brit Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott). The latter was even able to use his brother Simon as a relay station in pursuit.
Miguel Angel Lopez takes the stage and the leader's jersey
As a Miguel Angel Lopez attacked again, no one could follow him. He gradually left the direct competition and closed Gregor Muehlberger and Marc Soler on. However, they could not keep up with the pace for long. The Colombian won the stage ahead of the Austrian and the Spaniard. Egan Bernal and Adam Yates neutralized themselves despite repeated attacks. Due to the small distances, things remain exciting even after the second mountain finish on the Tour of Catalonia. Now Miguel Angel Lopez leads the overall standings by 14 and 17 seconds respectively over Adam Yates and Egan Bernal.
💪Stage win and the new leader: @SupermanlopezN!🇨🇴👏 What a race! #VoltaCatalunya pic.twitter.com/8DnMhl9G3J
— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) March 28, 2019
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