The Colombian cyclist Sergio Higuita (Bora-Transgohe) assumed the leadership of the Tour of Catalonia, after a great stage this Saturday in which he was second, in a close one-on-one with the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Ineos), who won in the sprint.
Higuita goes for the title
Higuita has a 16-second advantage and this Sunday he will seek to defend that difference to win the title, in the final stage this Sunday in Barcelona (6 am RCN TV). The Portuguese João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), who lost the lead, is third, 52 seconds behind; and the Colombian Nairo Quintana (Team Arkéa), fourth, at 53. The Olympic champion and the Colombian champion reached the finish line 48 seconds apart from the rest of the favorites in a leg-breaking 167.6-kilometre stage starting in Salou marked by rain and cold environment.
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This Saturday, the day began with the escape attempts of poorly positioned runners in the general classification. One of those who tried it was the Australian Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma), but his solo adventure ended before the first port of the day, the first category Coll de Llebres, with ramps of up to 15 percent incline. From then on the favorites moved on, with Higuita and Carapaz opening a big gap with respect to the group of Colombian Quintana, the Dutchman Wouter Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and the Norwegian Tobias Halland Johanessen (UNO-X Pro Cycling Team), in addition to nine other cyclists.
Behind was the great group, with whom the stage began as leader, Almeida. Ayuso, Australian Ben O’Connor (AG2R) and Frenchman Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) also failed to break away. Higuita and Carapaz, along with Lucas Plapp (Ineos), the Ecuadorian’s teammate, crowned the pass 47 seconds ahead of Quintana’s group and 1 minute and 4 seconds over Almeida’s.
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On the descent, Plapp dropped from the breakaways and the two chasing groups joined. In any case, the advantage of Higuita and Carapaz only increased, achieving 1 minute and 35 seconds at the top of the Coll de Capafonts, second category, located 105.4 kilometers from the finish line. The Ecuadorian and the Colombian continued to widen the gap, reaching 3 minutes and 33 seconds. Shortly after, in the second and last intermediate sprint of the day, Higuita took three bonus seconds. The descent to Cambrils was frenetic, with Ayuso taking advantage of the chasing group, and another group led by Quintana and Poels also managing to leave behind the small peloton with Almeida. But, finally, they ended up grouping up without being able to catch Carapaz and Higuita, who played for victory in a very tight ending in which the Ecuadorian prevailed.
Higuita assured that “there could be no doubt” and that they went “all the way to the finish line” with Carapaz. “We understood each other well in the breakaway, they gradually closed the difference but we knew how to regulate our forces to reach the finish line”, said. Thus, Higuita missed the stage win again by very little, as it already happened in La Molina (Girona). “It was a power sprint. I decided to launch myself with 100 meters to go and he was a little stronger than me and he won the stage”, he analyzed about what happened in Cambrils.
The escape originated in the first port of the day, the first category Coll de Llebres. “I started the climb with a very good position, I saw that Carapaz got ahead and with his domestique (Lucas Plapp) he made a really strong climb that the group selected and I was the last survivor of this rhythm”, Higuita explained. This Sunday, last stage with six climbs to the mountain.
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*With EFE and AFP
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