March 26, 2026
Vallter 2000 was originally planned for the finish on the 4th stage of the Volta a Catalunya but dangerous winds on the mountain forced the organizers to move the finish to the bottom, drastically changing the complexion of the stage. The first part of the stage remains unchanged however with the start in Mataró along the coast. The race will head entirely in a Northerly direction through Sant Feliu de Codines and Olost. The course reaches a dragging valley road North of Torelló in the village of Sant Quirze de Besora on the Ter River. From there, the road rises for the next 38 kilometers all the way to finish following the Ter upstream to the base of the Pyrenees. What was meant to be a GC showdown may in fact turn into an unprecedented fourth opportunity for the sprinters out of the seven days of racing.
Race Summary
Baptiste Veistroffer of Lotto Intermarché, Koen Bouwman of Jayco AlUla, Merhawi Kudus of Burgos-Burpellet BH, and Samuel Fernández of Euskatel-Euskadi were the only early attackers and they got away relatively easily from the start. With 62 kilometers to go, the gap was at 90 seconds to the break who had become just two with Kudus and Fernández leading with Uno-X Mobility leading the peloton and Ineos behind just as we have seen in the last few days. Four riders were just jumping clear of the peloton when live coverage began including Andrea Raccagni of Soudal Quickstep, José Manuel Díaz and Mario Aparicio of Burgos-Burpellet BH, and Yago Aguirre of Euskatel-Euskadi. Through Olost, Raccagni took the sprint for the final bonus second that was available. The four attackers were caught by the peloton and with all of the action, Kudus and Fernández were within 15 seconds. The bunch completely shut down which left the leading duo to dangle in front of the peloton a bit longer.
The average speed was still just a touch over 36KM/HR with 40 kilometers to race and it seemed as though everyone was happy to roll along behind Ineos and wait for a sprint. Fernández and Kudus were finally reeled in with 18 kilometers to go and this point, positioning began with GC and sprint teams lined up across the road. The speed ramped up with the last intermediate sprint just ahead in Sant Joan de les Abadesses. Pinarello Q36.5 ripped through the last kilometer before the sprint and Tom Pidcock won it handily to take 3 bonus seconds in the process.
The gap back to the rest of the field was quite large and a few riders joined Pidcock and wanted to push on. Simone Gualdi of Lotto Intermarché took second in the sprint and was there along with Florian Lipowitz of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious. The bunch was wise to the move and quickly shut it down. With 6 kilometers to go, there were eight teams spread across the road as the positioning drag race was well underway.
At 3 kilometers from the finish, Ineos were best organized but EF-Education EasyPost had their train set up as did Uno-X Mobility and Modern Adventure. NSN Cycling wedged themselves through the middle and took control of the pace with 1,700 meters to go. Inside the final kilometer, Ineos had one man leading with three NSN Cycling riders behind, including Ethan Vernon, then it was Dorian Godon of Ineos and Noah Hobbs of EF-Education EasyPost sitting behind. The road tipped down in the last 500 meters which led into a sweeping right turn. NSN Cycling controlled the entire way and allowed Vernon to take the final corner at 125 meters in first position. Vernon opened up out of the corner with Godon on his wheel but the line came too soon for Godon to get on terms and it was Vernon who scored the win. NSN Cycling has been trying all week and finally came good with perfect timing and strength. Godon settled for second place ahead of Pidcock who snuck in to third to add a few more bonus seconds to his collection.