De Plus sprints to second on final day of Catalunya

Laurens De Plus sprinted to second place on the final day of the Volta Catalunya in Barcelona to finish sixth on the GC.

Egan Bernal finished just behind on the GC in seventh, while Axel Laurance sprinted to ninth on the stage after a strong week for the Grenadiers.

A late attack from race leader Primoz Roglic (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) saw him take the win solo, with De Plus taking second after a two-up sprint with Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto).

The final day in Catalunya saw the riders tackle 88 kilometres, concluding with six laps of the Montjuïc circuit, which included the second category climb, averaging 5%.

The second time up the climb, Omar Fraile led the charge, before Roglic attacked solo with 20km to go.

Enric Mas (Movistar) attacked, with Laurance straight on his wheel. The two were able to go clear with Van Eetvelt and Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), but were caught soon after.

Ascending the categorised climb for the final time, De Plus attacked, going clear with Van Eetvelt to chase Roglic. While unable to bridge over, De Plus launched his sprint perfectly to take second place on the stage.

Reaction

Laurens De Plus: “It was super, super hard. It’s pretty special to have a two-hour stage – we’re used to having longer stages – but I was in a good position on the last climb and I felt like ‘why not?’ I just squeezed and suddenly I was off the front. I ended up seeing Roglic almost, so I was surprised by that.

“We all know Roglic is an incredible rider so I’m not surprised. Congrats to him. You always hope [for the stage win] but I was on my limit and Van Eetvelt did most of the work, so I was already happy to go for second place. I’m super happy with that, so I can end this week with a good feeling.”