Stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya closes out the race with a mountainous bang. It goes 179k from Tona to La Molina including two Cat 1 climbs, an HC climb and another Cat 1 to the finish. There are two sprint points along the way.
The GC race looks to have two battles, one between the current leader Berhane, Lunke who sits second, and yesterday’s stage winner, Chiarello who is currently 3rd. Just 36 seconds separates the three of them. The second battle will be between the riders from 5th (currently Paret-Peintre) to 10th (currently Potocki), they are separated by just 27 seconds. Pavlic, currently 4th, is probably the weakest climber in the top 10. He seems unlikely to move up and has a 42-second cushion over 5th so he has some room for error. But he will likely need another good day to hold his position.
The organizers don’t feel great about Lunke’s chances, they think Garby, who has struggled so far and currently sits 17th on GC, is mostly likely to challenge Berhane and Chiarello.
8k gone. The first attackers are KOM leader Dyrnes along with Blikra and Mannion. Sony – Force India are chasing but the lead has gone out to 55 seconds.
Sony – Force India bring the lead back down to 27 seconds before Shirota, Zambanini, and Ablenado attack.
With 155k to go the first 6 attackers have come together. 24 seconds behind them is another group including Lafay, Bardet Squire, and Verschaeve. The peloton are at 1’17, more riders are attacking but JEWA TIROL seem unwilling to let too many more riders go.
While JEWA TIROL were closing down attacks Dyrnes was feeling good about things. The initial group of 10 included a teammate and the closest to him in the KOM competition was Ablenado 20 points down. But JEWA TIROL eventually let another group of 8 go including La Lavandier (tied for first in the KOM) and McCutcheon (3rd) and they are almost across to the original group to form an 18-rider break. 144k to ride. The other 6 riders bridging across are : Gaspar, Chevrier, Urcelay, Kritskiy, Alarcon, and Keizer.
Many strong climbers in the break, the best on GC is Lafay, who is 22nd, 6’16 off the pace. While the break was still forming they passed the first sprint point without any reaction.
By the time the break reaches the first climb their lead is 3’01 with JEWA TIROL doing the work behind. The climb is the Alt de Bracons, 9.5k at 5.6%. After a pretty easy opening half the last half is a steady 9-11%.
Not much action on the climb until Kritskiy forces the pace with 600 meters to go.
It is a sprint at the top and Lafay takes maximum points followed by Shirota.
La Lavandier manages 6th place which scores him 4 points and gives him the virtual KOM lead with 42 points. Among the other top contenders McCutcheon (2 points) and Chevrier (8) also score. That puts McCutcheon in 3rd on 36 points and Chevrier in 4th on 34 points. The break lead by 5’36 with 123k to ride.
As the break roll through the second sprint their lead is up to 5’55. They will start the second Cat 1 climb shortly, it is the Alt de Coubet, 13k at 5.4%. Still JEWA TIROL doing all the chasing.
La Lavandier kicks off the action with about 1k to go but he is overwhelmed by the top and Shirota takes maximum points ahead of Gaspar and Alarcon. Shirota up to 28 points, or 8th place. La Lavandier does score 2 points to extend his total. Chevrier also scores minor points.
KOM standings after the 2nd climb:
By the time JEWA TIROL lead the peloton off the descent the breakaway’s lead is 7’49 having maxed at just over 8 minutes. There are 80k to race and in 14k the peloton will start the HC climb. On the front for JEWA TIROL are Malori, Schlecter, Rabitsch, Koep and Heymes.
When the breakaway starts the HC Alt de la Creuta (19k at 4.9%) their lead is down to 6’26.
12.7k to go for the peloton, Koep doing the work on the front for most of the climb has the lead down to 5’07. The breakaway is stll intact but the peloton is down to 86 riders. GC top 20 all still present.
5k to climb for the break who are getting stretched out. Zambanini the first rider dropped. Their lead is 5’01, Heymes now on the front of the 62-rider peloton for but he is looking a little ragged.
1.8k to go for the break. Virtual KOM top 2 Dyrnes and La Lavandier have been dropped. Rosskopf now leading the peloton as Gjensidige help out but he isn’t pushing the pace and the lead is back to 5’56.
800 meters, Bardet launches an attack. Chevrier, Alarcon, and Keizer are dropped.
It is close at the top and Verschaeve just edges Lafay, and Squire.
With most of the top KOM contenders dropped before the top the only impact is Shirota takes minor points to move in to 5th, 12 points off the lead. Lafay is in 7th, 2 points further back. If the breakaway stays away, they will have another chance to score at the finish.
A breakaway win looking possible as Jacobsen leads the peloton over the top 6’32 down. 40k to ride. Berhane looking isolated. Top 20 is all still in the peloton although 14th placed Heymes is right at the back. He is also the last JEWA TIROL rider in the peloton other than Berhane. Up front there are just 8 breakaway survivors, Ablenado, Mannion, Verschaeve, Bardet, Squire, Gaspar, Lafay and Shirota. Although 4 more are just 28 seconds down (Kristskiy, Blikra, Urcelay, and McCutcheon).
20k banner for the peloton, the lead is down to 5’32 thanks to some help from Air New Zealand (Diaz) perhaps because Lafay and Mannion are both within 7 minutes of the GC lead and therefore a threat to the riders in the GC top 10. The Kritskiy group have caught the lead group which means McCutcheon is still in the KOM competition if he can hang on.
The leaders have 6k to the start of the final climb to La Molina. The climb is 8.6k at an average of 5.5%, with the hardest stretch in the final kilometer.
7.4k to go and again Bardet starts the action. Peloton at 5’32 with Canty on the front as Podium Ambition are also worried about their GC placings.
Bardet’s attack splits the lead group into two, additional riders in the front are Mannion, Shirota, Ablenado , Squire, and McCutcheon.
6.7k to go for the peloton. The first attack is from Chiarello, Paret-Peintre, and Lunke go with him. Berhane needs to pay attention to this.
Berhane reacts bringing Fabbro, Munoz, and Iturria with him. But Lunke cracks and loses Paret-Peintre’s wheel creating a gap. Right now just 14 seconds. Another 21 seconds back from the chasers to the rest of the peloton which is being led by Canty still. Heymes is the only member of the GC to 20 missing. Berhane could well still defend the leader’s jersey for JEWA TIROL but the team’s jersey looks doomed. Up front the 12 breakaway riders are back together.
In the break an attack from an inspired McCutcheon draws a different group of 6 ahead. This time the others are Mannion, Squire, Vershaeve, Lafay and Gaspar. 3 US riders in the group, they must have been watching McNulty’s ride in Hong Kong to prepare for the race. Gaps are stable in the GC battle.
With just over 4k to go, work from Munoz, Fabbro and Lunke bring the chasers up to Chiarello and Paret-Peintre. Steady work from Canty has kept the peloton at just 21 seconds. The gap from Chiarello to the breakaway is 4’08.
Canty brings the peloton back to the Berhane group and immediately O'Connor attacks. Great teamwork from the Podium Ambition duo. Up front the gap between the two breakaway groups is 35 seconds.
O’Connor pulls Pavlic and Elosegui with him. They open a small gap and Chiarello leads the chase. Up front the gap between the two groups is 42 seconds and is beginning to look decisive.
1k banner for the leaders, they now have 48 seconds. McCutcheon still hanging on, what a great ride from him, given the quality of the riders he is sticking with. Further back, the O’Connor group has a 14-second gap.
700 meters, Verschaeve initiates the final act of the 2023 Volta a Catalunya.
As they complete the final turn with 400 meters to go the front three are Verschaeve, Lafay and Gaspar. But only McCutcheon looks completely out of it. Behind the O’Connor group has been caught.
Lafay cracks and only Gaspar is still a threat to Verschaeve’s lead.
Still a few meters to go but Verschaeve doesn’t think Gaspar can take him. A great stage win for Babymetal. Gaspar takes 2nd for Manada Coyote.
As they cross the line the gap to the peloton is 3’21, for now no action among the GC leaders.
Lafay takes 3rd on the stage . 3rd doesn’t carry enough points for him to snatch the KOM jersey, that will be won by La Lavandier. Mannion and Squire take 4th and 5th.
McCutcheon hangs on for 6th ahead of his teammate Urcelay then Shirota and Bardet. Blikra is 10th and the veterans Ablenado and Kritskiy take 11th and 12th. The rest of the break are caught so the next riders home will be the GC contenders.
Chiarello leads a 39-rider group under the 1k banner. Doesn’t look like there will be big gaps but this last k is the hardest on the climb.
Paret-Peintre goes to the front with 500 meters to ride. At the back Canty is paying for all his pacemaking.
As they turn for home Paret-Peintre still leads, closest to him are Elosegui, Chiarello and Berhane. There are no time bonuses left and it doesn’t look like there will be gaps except for Canty losing time.
Paret-Peintre takes 13th, 3’20 down on the winner. There are no time gaps until 48th place. So there are no changes in the GC top 10 and Berhane is the overall winner.
Lafay moves up to 11th on GC, somewhat making up for Iturria’s losses yesterday. Canty finishes 49th losing an additional 1’06 and dropping him out of the top 20. We will never know if that sacrifice was necessary to protect O’Connor’s 7th.
Chiarello wins the points jersey ahead of Paret-Peintre and Pavlic, who are tied for 2nd. Pavlic continues his gift for exceeding expectations with 4th on GC and 2nd in points. His first day exploits turned in to a lot more than a KOM run.
Lafay, Gaspar, McCutcheon and Verschaeve end up in a 4-way tie for 2nd in the KOM competition.
Elosegui easily wins the young rider competition ahead of Leemreize.
Stela-Vita leverage their breakaway exploits to win the Team’s jersey ahead of Caja Rural. JEWA TIROL sacrifice their chances working for Berhane, dropping all the way from 1st to 11th on the last day. Probably a sacrifice they are willing to live with to make Natnael Berhane the 2023 Volta a Catalunya champion.
Volta a Catalunya 
