Axel Laurance takes first World Tour win on stage 5 of the 2024 Volta a Catalunya with powerful sprint

Axel Laurance has taken his first World Tour-level win on stage 5 of the 2024 Volta a Catalunya after a punchy sprint to the line.

Five men got themselves into the breakaway. Oscar Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers), Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek), Enzo Paleni (Groupama - FDJ), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education - EasyPost) and Christopher Juul-Jensen (Team Jayco AlUla).

Steinhauser and Rodriguez were the last men standing of the breakaway, but with just under 30km to go, their day out front was over.

Although there were numerous attacks between the breakaway being caught and the finale, a relatively full peloton reached the last 5km all together.

With no team having control at the front of the bunch, there were a couple more riders who attempted to try their luck with a flyer in the last couple of kilometres but as they passed the Flamme Rouge, the peloton was once again at the head of the race.

A slightly uphill finale meant many riders would have fancied their chances. It was eventually, Axel Laurance who took the win however in a powerful sprint ahead of Marijn van den Berg and Bryan Coquard.