“It was a very tough final climb" - Tadej Pogacar insists second dominant stage win at Volta a Catalunya was far from easy

After narrowly missing out on stage 1 victory, Tadej Pogacar has taken a pair of dominant triumphs on stages 2 and 3 at the Volta a Catalunya.

“It was a very tough final climb and it was also at altitude,” the UAE Team Emirates leader reflected modestly in his post-stage interview. “I felt it was cold and there wasn't much humidity either. That made it very difficult. But it was a good stage for us as a team. I'm happy to win because my teammates worked hard for this.”

With the general classification now all but officially sewn up barring accident or miracle, Pogacar leads by nearly two and a half minutes over second placed Mikel Landa, who ignited the general classification fight on stage 3.

“It was Mikel Landa who was the first to attack. Then I went over him, after I saw that he immediately made a hole. Maybe it was too early,” Pogacar assesses. “But I found a good rhythm and I was able to push until the last two kilometres. After that, I felt it became more difficult, but luckily I was still able to finish it.”