The last stage has arrived, the final decisions will be made. And while it doesn't seem likely that Yuri Trofimov will give the overall lead away, the places behind him are hard-fought. Especially Robert Gesink, who is only three seconds behind a podium place, will give everything to attack the (nominally) weaker puncheurs Phinney and Ignatiev in front of him.
If we look a few places behind, Jerome Coppel, currently seventh, will have a handful of work to fend off the likes of Costa and Roche. And only 20 seconds seperate the places 10 and 12.
And if all that wouldn't be enough, the points and mountain classifications are far from being decided either. Especially with so many KoM points up for grabs, we may see a familiar face in the break today. So excitement is provided for alright.
Leaving the streets of Manresa, Clement Koretzky launches the last first attack of this race.
He is followed by a few riders, and indeed, some of these have already been in the break before:
Niki Terpstra Kristian Dyrnes (20 KoM Points) Ed King (8 KoM Points)
Björn Thrurau (4 KoM Points) and Coen Vermeltfort join the trio, that is still half a minute behind Koretzky on the foot of the only Cat1 climb of this race.
The first rider to cross the summit is awarded 16 KoM points, so it's no wonder that the sprint is heavily contested (even if it doesn't look like that in that screen). Eventually, Kristian Dyrnes has the upper hand makes a huge step towards the jersey. The ranking after this climb:
Kyrnes
36
Serrano
28
Hacecky
26
King
20
Hacecky and Serrano tried to snatch the remaining two points on the climb but were beaten by Romain Zingle, who should be awarded with the most active rider award of the race. The three break free from the peloton and form a second group on the road, though still roughly five minutes behind the BotD and 1'30 in front of the pack after the descent.
Meanwhile, there's another fight going on: The one for the lanterne rouge! Over the past few days, Troels Vinter and Theo Bos were reliably found in the last groups, and Vinter only has 12 seconds of advance on the Dutch. And once again, they're the first to drop back today (along with De Vries). It'll be a close battle!
Back to the front: While the intermediate sprint goes on by uncontested, the next climbs will surely be hard-fought:
Spoiler
Kyrnes takes the first Cat2 one relatively easy in front of Vermeltfort and Thurau. He then proceeds to come second to Thurau at the Cat3 climb and only fourth on the second Cat2 climb. For the KoM ranking, this means:
Kyrnes
54
Thurau
32
Serrano
28
With only 15 points left, that is enough for the Norwegian to claim the final lead in this ranking.
Meanwhile, a major split in the peloton happened: 30 riders broke away on the Cat3 climb, and some big names are caught out. Mainly, these include GC 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th, Coppel, Costa, Roche and Lutsenko, but also Flügel and Boily. They are a minute behind after the second Cat2 climb, and will probably catch up, but the riders should be more alert!
As the up and down continues, it has started to rain, and the first rider is down: Pit Schlechter.
With 50 kilometers to go, the peloton is reunited, but many of the GC riders are still spread all over the place. The escapees are four minutes in front, the trio in between is already caught again.
Interestingly, it's Vesuvio - Accumalux that does the pace in the peloton. Ben Gastauer seems to have a plan for the Tibidabo!
A quick look behind: Vinter leaves Bos behind! Could this be an early decision in favor of the Bouygues rider?
Kristian Dyrnes underlines his KoM claim by winning the penultimate climb in front of the strong Thurau. The gap is down to three minutes with 40 kms to go now.
Tinkoff has joined the relay now, but the gap stays relatively stable at a little over three minutes. Of course there's still the final climb, but a success for the escapees is not out of the question here.
Indeed, the escapees enter the climb with an advance of 2'30. The climb is 5,5 kms long and not particularly steep. 8 kms of descent follow, in these conditions not an easy task either. But it's not looking too bad for the break.
In the pack, the GC riders position themselves for any possible attack that could cause a final change in the overall classification. The first move, how else could it be, comes from Romain Zingle. Currently sitting in 16th, the man is delivering one hell of a race!
Meanwhile, Niki Terpstra attacks his companions! He was the first to fall behind on every climb today, but he may have just held back for this moment!
Klemme and Schreurs (GC 18th) join Zingle and they build a 30 seconds lead on the pack. The favorites keep calm.
But now they move! Schumacher initiates it, Sanchez sees his fifth place in danger and counters. Yuri Trofimov follows as well as Gastauer, Claeys and surprisingly Coppel!
With the attacks coming behind, Clement Koretzky sees the success of the break in danger and ups the pace. Terpstra, whose earlier try didn't stick, immediatly falls back.
Let's get an overview on the situation:
The break at front has about 40 seconds on Schreurs and Klemme, who left Zingle behind.
Another 40 seconds behind is a five men group with Sanchez, Schumacher, Trofimov, Gastauer and Claeys.
Eight men including Ignatiev, Roche, Flügel, Costa and Coppel follow 20 seconds later.
The peloton with Phinney and Gesink is another 30 seconds behind.
But it's well possible that we see the first escapee win today. Koretzky and Thurau cross the summit first, 25 seconds in front of their former companions, and a minute in front of the first favorites. 8 kms of descent to go!
At the start of the descent, the Trofimov group caught up with Terpstra and Zingle. Schreurs and Klemme are in sight, too, while his team mate Flügel is about to make the jump to the Trofimov and Co. The leading duo is still a minute in front.
Ignatiev, Roche and Costa are half a minute behind, but they're all rather gaining places than losing them at the moment.
Taylor Phinney is on his mission to defend his podium place, chasing 20 seconds behind the Ignatiev group, with Coppel alongside him. In the background, you can see Gesink another 20s behind, who will also be very unhappy with his current situation. Diggle and König accompany him.
A descent often brings groups together, and we see that now, too. The Trofimov group sweeps up everyone in front of them, except for Koretzky and Thurau. They're still 40 seconds in front, with a bit more than 5 kms left.
And Gesink made the catch to Phinney. So we look at these gaps:
Koretzky / Thurau
< 48s > Trofimov group
< 36s > Costa / Ignatiev group
< 36s > Gesink / Phinney group
< 55s >
Peloton, incl. Lutsenko and Boily
It becomes clear that the escapees will battle this one out, and Koretzky tries to surprise Thurau with an early sprint. Is that a wise decision?
It looks good, as he opens a gap of a few meters, closing in on the last kilometer!
And he makes it! A great win! Koretzky initiated this move, and now he finishes it off! Thurau can objectively be very happy with this second place, although he might be a bit frustrated at first with this and the second place in the KoM ranking.
In the second group, Trofimov starts the sprint from the front. He has been so strong in the past days, can he pull it off again and take third? Sanchez could really use the bonus seconds, too, as he fights for a podium spot here.
The Russian is indeed incredibly strong again, but Schreurs used the slipstream to take third. Gastauer, who will re-enter the Top 10, finishes fifth. The group is strangely given the same time as the duo in front.
Kwiatkowski leads the Ignatiev group home a whole 1'10 later, which means Ignatiev loses his third place to Sanchez, who makes the huge jump to second overall!
Gesink is the biggest disappointment of today, he falls back to sixth while Phinney at least saves a podium spot. Coppel is very unlucky and loses the 10th overall by 5 seconds to Roche.
Martin Reimer wins the sprint from the peloton.
And one last decision was to be made: Theo Bos rolls over the line as the third-to-last rider today, but that is enough to end this race with the prestigious lantern rouge!
And thus ends the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. I think we've seen some very interesting racing, with a superior and well deserved winner in Yuri Trofimov, a very strong wild card team Metinvest and a very close field of top riders. I hope you enjoyed the reports, see you next time!
