"It was really tough to survive" - Tadej Pogacar battles through cold and wet to ignite Volta a Catalunya GC fight

Whilst the weather may have been damp, cold and horrible atop the Vallter 2000 on stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya, Tadej Pogacar was at his brilliant best, firing up the road to ignite the GC fight.

Eventually winning by nearly a minute and a half, Pogacar took to his post-stage interview dressed in a coat and a bobble hat. "We started with very nice weather, it felt like summer," the UAE Team Emirates leader recalls through chattering teeth. "But then we saw the clouds rising. We thought we would survive until the finish, but then the rain came."

Whilst the Slovenian was clearly feeling the effects of the weather, he didn't let it bother his legs on the final climb as he powered to a dominant victory. "It was really tough to survive," he admits afterwards however. "Especially at this height. You feel that you are at a height, which makes it even harder, but I am very happy with the win."

With a similar length stage tomorrow but more climbing on the menu, Pogacar could well and truly wrap up the general classification with another stage win.