March 24, 2026
Most sprint stages in Catalunya have a moment that throws doubt into the outcome, like a long climb in the middle of the stage or, like yesterday, a ramp straight up the finish. Today however, is about as close to a nailed on sprint as one will get in this part of the world. The course will feel like a home race for half the peloton with the start in Figueres and the finish near the Estany de Banyoles on the training roads of those living in Girona. The 164 kilometer route meanders from West to East and back again but always in a Southerly direction. The three intermediate sprints come in Peralada, Besalu, and Olot at 106, 58, and 33 kilometers to go. From Besalu through Olot, the road rises about 400 meters across a 40 kilometer stretch but, if last year is any indication with Matthew Brennan, Ethan Vernon, and Kaden Groves in the mix, we should see a bunch gallop for the win. The final 3 kilometers are quite technical with multiple pinch points and a final left corner at just 400 meters from the line.
Race Summary
Temperatures increased to a pleasant 18C as the race rolled out of Figueres. Five riders broke away early on including Baptiste Veistroffer and Liam Slock of Lotto Intermarché, Julen Arriolabengoa of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Samuel Fernández of Euskatel-Euskadi, and Diego Uriarte of Equipo Kern Pharma. With 70KM to go on the approach to the second intermediate sprint in the medieval town of Besalu, the break had nearly 3 minutes on the bunch who were being driven by NSN Cycling and Ineos. Veistroffer led through the sprint uncontested as the break were working as a single unit to maintain their advantage.
The gap held firm at 2 minutes 50 seconds at 52 kilometers to go which forced others teams with a sprint interest like EF-Education EasyPost and Soudal Quickstep to decide to add a man to the chase. A bit of discord crept into the lead group as Slock increased the pace on short rise. Gaps formed and, with 47 kilometers to go, only Slock, Veistroffer, and Uriarte were left at the front. The wind was blowing from behind the riders between Besalu and Olot making it very difficult for the peloton to make much progress on reducing the gap. Just like every other intermediate sprint, Veistroffer took maximum points in Olot and continued to press forward.
With 30KM to go, Veistroffer started to struggle on the dragging roads out of Olot. Slock and Uriarte went on but their lead was down to 1 minute 35 seconds. Veistroffer returned 1 kilometer later but, behind, GC teams were moving forward to position for the finale. Visma-Lease a Bike, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Jayco AlUla, Lidl-Trek and Bahrain Victorious were all battling to stay at the front and, as a result, the gap plummeted to just 1 minute with 25 kilometers to go.
Veistroffer and Slock worked over Uriarte and the Lotto Intermarché duo went clear with 20 kilometers to go. With so few sprinters on the start list, only Ineos and NSN Cycling were consistently pulling, primarily with George Bennett, with a few contributions from EF-Education EasyPost. Alpecin-Premier Tech were playing it cool and not working to pull the leaders back even though this stage was the only realistic chance where they could achieve a result this week. Just as this thought had occurred to me, their sprinter, Henri Uhlig, crashed hard on a right bend and was out of the race.
As a result of the crash, the peloton split in half. NSN Cycling never paused their chase however and were now getting more help from EF-Education EasyPost. With 8 kilometers to go, the gap was down to 25 seconds and shortly after, the back split of the peloton rejoined to make one peloton chasing the two leaders. Veistroffer emptied the tank and let Slock go for the line. With 2.5 kilometers to go, Slock had about 8 seconds but the catch was finally made at the 1 kilometer to go banner.
Out of nowhere, Alpecin-Premier Tech came forward along with UAE-XRG and Uno-X Mobility. Ivo Oliveira of UAE-XRG tried to catch the others unaware and go for a long sprint at 400 meters out of the final corner. Magnus Cort of Uno-X Mobility was straight on the wheel and sat in the slip stream. Behind Cort was Noa Isidore of Decathlon CMA CGM and Dorian Godon of Ineos with Ethan Vernon of NSN Cycling nowhere in sight. Cort launched with 175 meters to go and looked to be tiring but everyone was gassed by this point. The Dane kicked one last time and held off Isidore by half a bike length to take his first win a bit over one year. Francesco Busatto of Alpecin-Premier Tech followed Isidore across the line for third with Godon in fourth. Godon retains the race lead, now on the same time as Cort, going into the third stage.