2021 Volta a Catalunya Stage 1 Results & Recap
Stage 1 of the 2021 Volta a Catalunya is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Andreas Kron claims first stage of Volta a Catalunya\nBy Clara Beard
Andreas Kron (Lotto Soudal) surprised everyone today in the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya, outsprinting his breakaway companions to take the win in Calella. The Danish neo-pro took the biggest win of his career ahead of Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana Premier Tech) and RĂ©my Rochas (Fra) Cofidis who took second and third respectively.
“It’s fantastic. It’s my first WorldTour stage race and my first WorldTour stage win,” Kron said. “It’s crazy, it’s fantastic, I cannot say anything, it’s just fantastic. We rode fantastic as a team today. We had Sylvain [Moniquet] in the break and it’s also the mountains jersey for him and then I came in the break and won the sprint. it’s incredible, fantastic.”
Kron wears the leaders jersey ahead of tomorrow's 18.5km time trial. He's four seconds ahead of Sanchez and six seconds ahead of Rochas on GC.
The first stage of Volta a Catalunya was a 178.5km loop that started and finished in Calella. Gotzon MartĂn (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Rein Taaramae (IntermarchĂ©-Wanty Gobert), Natnael Berhane (Cofidis) and Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal), made up the break of the day, and built up a max lead of 4:20 while Bora-Hansgrohe led the peloton.
And the top of Port de Les Guilleries, the breakaway was caught due to the high pace set by Movistar. With 30km to go, plenty of attacks came from the peloton, but nothing solid until Sanchez, Kron, Kämna and Rochas took off. They held a 30-second advantage to the end, as the peloton failed to organise a collective chase.
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